Auto trade down 34% in 2020: Clarkson Research
The latest estimates from Clarkson Research in August suggest that auto trade could decline by 34% in 2020.
In parallel, the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics stated that, in view of the continuous (strong) decrease in volumes in the trade of automobiles by sea due to the crisis derived from Covid-19, the prospects for the automobile transport sector are full of concerns in mid-2020 and analysts do not expect a rapid recovery in demand.
All economic indicators related to the auto trade are behaving accordingly: charter fares have plummeted to a record low. In addition, the number of idle ships reached a record high of around 30% of the fleet in the middle of this year, according to Lloyd’s List and Shippax.
Auto trade
Above that, market concentration continues towards a few global players like WWL, MOL, NYK and K-Line, with a market share of almost 60 percent.
Likewise, according to the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, volumes in the leading ports in the car transshipment sector also show a fall of almost 40% on a year-on-year average, if the semi-annual results of 2019 and 2020 are used as a comparison.
The ports of Durban / South Africa and Veracruz / Mexico, for example, suffered the biggest drops, with losses of around 70% each to just 14,200 and 30,200 units per month respectively.
