Container line operator profits drop in Q1 2023

China’s Cosco Group, which has an 11 percent market share in the overall shipping industry, experienced a steep decline in profits in Q1 2023.

The company reported a continuation of declines that started last year, and it reported Q1 2023 revenue could be down more than 40 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022. 

The Goldman Sachs Supply Chain Congestion scale showed minimal backups in global ports, though absolute supply chain congestion increased 8.5 percent after three weeks of improvement. The number of shipping containers waiting to dock on the U.S. West Coast remained zero for the 19th consecutive week, Goldman Sachs Supply Chain reported.

Cargo line profits are dropping, although as they are coming down from “lofty levels” they have a way to go before reaching net-loss, according to FreightWaves.

Industry expert John McCown anticipates shipping lines will earn USD 43.2 billion (EUR 39 billion) in 2023, down 80 percent year-over-year, and their net income will decrease USD 10.8 billion (EUR 9.7 billion) in the second quarter of 2023, and a further USD 8.7 billion (EUR 7.8 billion) in the third and fourth quarters.

For the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the trucking market has rejection rates plummeting below 3 percent, resulting in the first quarter of 2023 experiencing the “softest sustained truckload market” since 2018, FreightWaves reported.

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