In 2022, the largest container carriers will continue to lessen their dependence on pure ocean transport and spread their wings to cover more of the end-to-end supply chain.
If container shipping remains a seller’s market, lines will have the opportunity to cherry-pick their customers. This will allow them to optimize the use of their assets and, ultimately, optimize their earnings.
Most shippers will be looking to ensure stability and predictability in their supply chain, rather than optimizing costs. Relationships with transportation and materials suppliers will become even more important, and supply chain resilience will be top of mind.
Companies will look to multi-sourcing and, to some extent, nearshoring to try to offset some of the risk businesses have been exposed to over the past 18 months.