Maersk sees falling rates in bearish sign for trade

Mumbai

THE world's largest container shipping line said that international freight rates are reversing after climbing for most of this year, raising questions about the sustainability of the global trade recovery.

Decade-old oversupply issues swamped demand for containerised sea trade in the third quarter, a senior official at Maersk Line Ltd said in an interview last week. Over 90 per cent of trade is routed through ships, making the industry a bellwether for the worldwide economy.

"We have started to see some pockets of downward pressure," said Steve Felder, Mumbai-based managing director of Maersk's South Asian unit. The global trade order book at around 13.5 per cent of capacity is not high, "however, given that freight rates are largely determined on the basis of supply-demand balance, they remain fra…