Supply Chain Research

The container-line sector had a challenging first quarter in 2018. While revenues grew 16% on a year earlier (beating the forwarders’ 5% increase) only a handful of the liners saw improved rates per TEU, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. The outlook for 2Q is not good, with rates down by 8% on a year earlier and bunker fuel costs already 44% higher. That spread will further squeeze the sector’s EBITDA margins, which fell to 6.3% vs. 6.7% a year earlier. By contrast there was an improvement from the forwarders to 10.4% from 10.3%. Absent a return to pricing discipline from the container-l...