Ports present opportunities amidst a challenging environment between trade supply and demand

As stated by Dinesh Sharma, CEO of this maritime industry consulting firm, in an interview with Pórticolive.

Since January of this year, freight rates have shown a downward trend, evidenced in Drewry's maritime rate index. The company projects a decline in freight rates between 15% and 20% in 2025, according to its analysis.

Dinesh Sharma, director of the firm, spoke with Pórticolive about the combination of factors that support this forecast, referring to the relationship between supply and demand, amidst the still uncertain outlook.

"Achieving growth in demand will be very challenging. Demand remains volatile and has declined. On the other hand, there is a great appetite for additional capacity, and it is increasing in the container segment and others”, Sharma said.

Consumer confidence has fallen, which will have an impact on trade, but the market has resorted to stockpiling inventory, which is counterintuitive to that sentiment. For this reason, Sharma states that giving a final verdict on market performance is extremely difficult now.

However, there are still opportunities in an uncertain environment. Currently, the world is undergoing a process of supply chain relocation, and several countries have increased their exports. This is the case of India, which has strengthened its presence in the US East Coast market, and of Latin America. The latter faces a significant challenge: the need to add value to commodities, which represent the main export segment.

Regarding ports, efficiency and the adoption of technology and customer-oriented services will be decisive. In fact, the Gemini Cooperation (between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk) is testing a new concept, working with the most efficient ports aiming to become faster and improving itinerary's reliability.

The year 2025 will be a challenging period for the industry; uncertainty will persist due to the volatility of trade, which currently has the lowest potential for growth. "We'll see what happens in the coming years, and, in the coming months, how trade and tariff discussions pan out," Sharma concluded.