By Mike Wackett
In the latest blog from the OECD’s perceptive Olaf Merk, the analyst argues that globalisation – which has launched a thousand ships and too many at that – may be reaching, or has already arrived at, its peak. “We buy less stuff; instead, we buy the right to use stuff when we need it and this means that less stuff needs to be produced, and transported,” explains Mr Merk.
Opining that shipping and ports “live in a bubble of overcapacity”, and that it may be a decade for the supply/demand balance to be regained, Mr Merk’s blog is not going to improve the morale of challenged ocean carrier chiefs. But an interesting read nonetheless.
