Today the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has officially blocked the plans of an alliance between some of the major shipping lines. citing the potentially negative impact such a partnership would have on other carriers
The Shipping lines Maersk, MSC & CMA had been planning an Alliance to begin in the later part of 2014.
The alliance would have seen 229 vessels deployed on 29 trades with the fleet being run from a central control centre. It had been felt by many that the alliance may bring a degree of stability back to the market and in particular Asia to Europe routes which has been extremely volatile since 2009 when a boom in new builds collided with the global financial crisis.
This alliance had been approved by the EU and the FMC .
Today’s announcement has seen Maersk’s share price drop by 8.7% its biggest drop since 2012!!
With this announcement and with more tonnage due into the market from Coscon, UASC and others, the current volatility in the market is set to continue for the foreseeable future.