The times, they are a-changin'. Demand picture for shipping ‘far worse than we had foreseen,’ analysts warn The demand picture for container shipping is “far worse” than predicted, analysts have warned, as the sector struggles with an oversupply of vessels ordered during the pandemic-era shipping boom. “There’s a really, really punishing demand environment and at the same time, they’re just not doing enough to reduce the amount of available capacity in the market,” Simon Heaney, senior manager at the maritime research consultancy Drewry, told City A.M. He added: “The demand picture is far worse than even we had predicted with some really awful trade stats in terms of double digit losses on key trades from say Asia to North America, Asia to Europe.” The container shipping sector went through an astonishing boom after the first wave of coronavirus, as global supply chain disruption and huge import demand for manufactured consumer goods sent freight rates into the stratosphere. However, as the pandemic-induced demand bonanza faded, it has faced the problem of a huge oversupply of vessels, ordered on the back of bumper profits and a desire for newer, greener fleets. Demand picture for shipping ‘far worse than we had foreseen,’ analysts warn (msn.com)
The article seems to point to both.........ie. the pandemic consumer-goods hyped up demand faded but the industry was also adding "greener" ships to their fleets. So you end out with reduced demand and newer ships added to the existing global number of ships. "However, as the pandemic-induced demand bonanza faded, it has faced the problem of a huge oversupply of vessels, ordered on the back of bumper profits and a desire for newer, greener fleets."