Container shipping woes unlikely to ease before mid-2022 as global trade enters peak season

Shipping container rates are continuing to skyrocket, and as ocean trade approaches its peak season, some market participants think the situation is likely to linger until mid-2022.

“This is not going away tomorrow, not the next quarter,” said Eytan Buchman, chief marketing officer at online freight shipping marketplace and platform provider Freightos. “I think the pressure on shipping is going to exist until at least the middle of next year.”

The sentiment is pervasive in the industry.

The CEO of Germany-based producer LANXESS said this week that logistical delays impacting the company will not improve this year as new shipping capacity that could ease the situation is not expected online until summer of 2022.