by James Hookham, Director, Global Shippers Forum

Although container shipping capacity remains in short supply, there is no shortage of forecasts for what 2022 holds for the sector and those that rely on its services.

Having enjoyed huge profits from an unexpected surge in demand for imported goods into North America and Europe over the past 18 months, most shipping lines and logistics service providers are confidently predicting more of the same this year.

That is to be expected - an analysis published last month by the Financial Times showed the earnings growth of some shipping lines exceeded that of high-profile tech companies, like Netflix and Amazon.

Unsurprisingly, most shipping lines would quite like that trend to continue.

Yet, hopes that the 'Great Shipping Crisis of 2021' turns into 'Profits as Usual in 2022' may be premature as carriers overlook the impact of a few factors that look set to dominate this year unless a further variant of COVID-19 engulfs the world.

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