The Business Times
business-time-50
OUTLOOK 2025

Box shipping’s voyage of uncertainty expected to continue in 2025

Analysts expect freight rates to remain buoyed by geopolitical tensions, trade wars and labour disputes

google-preferred-sourceAdd BT as a preferred source
Tay Peck Gek

Tay Peck Gek

Published Mon, Dec 30, 2024 · 05:00 AM
    • During Donald Trump’s first term as US president, he ramped up tariffs on Chinese imports during the trade war in 2018, resulting in a spike in ocean container-shipping freight rates by more than 70%.
    • During Donald Trump’s first term as US president, he ramped up tariffs on Chinese imports during the trade war in 2018, resulting in a spike in ocean container-shipping freight rates by more than 70%. PHOTO: AFP

    CONTAINER shipping could be in for another year of market uncertainty in 2025, with some analysts expecting freight rates to remain buoyed by multiple factors ranging from geopolitical tensions and trade wars to labour disputes.

    German logistics heavyweight DHL expects the freight market to remain volatile into 2025, and freight rates unlikely to drop down to pre-pandemic levels in the immediate future. This is because of the raft of factors at play, including possible new tariffs and labour disputes.

    United States president-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in January 2025, is expected to wield a major influence on trade and the shipping sector as he has vowed to raise tariffs, such as on Chinese imports.

    ShippingOutlook 2025

    TRENDING NOW

    Singapore’s next chapter should not be framed as a choice between economic growth and social well-being. We need both.

    Singapore at 61: How we can ensure opportunity, security and ownership for the next generation

    Clockwise from top left: The founders of ImmunoQs, AI Seer and DancingMind. All three startups are based at JTC Corp’s LaunchPad @ one-north.

    With tech for fact-checking to cancer care, Singapore startups aim beyond home 

    The Vietnamese economy has long relied heavily on bank lending, straining commercial banks as they shoulder the bulk of the financing needed by companies and large infrastructure projects.

    Vietnam seeks US$76 billion a year from capital markets to ease reliance on banks

    Singapore consistently champions the open, rules-based order and the principle of Asean centrality that underpins regional and global stability.

    Why Asean matters more than ever to the UK and Singapore

    Latest T-bills Treasury Bills Results & Interest NewsLatest SSB Singapore Savings Bonds NewsLatest COE Certificate of Entitlement News
    Latest Johor-Singapore SEZ NewsLatest BTO Build To Order & Sales of Balance NewsLatest STI Straits Times Index NewsLatest SGX Dividends, Share Price NewsLatest Bonds Market NewsLatest Singapore Stocks To Buy NewsLatest Singapore Economy News
    View More