Sector outlook

According to the market research institute Drewry, the container market is becoming increasingly volatile and unpredictable due to a long series of disruptive events. Consequently, experts wonder whether volatility will become the new normal or whether the market will find a new equilibrium over the medium term. Escalating tariffs and counter-tariffs under the current US government, together with the recent tariff pauses and reductions, have led to unexpected spikes in demand. US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities recently triggered the acute risk of a wide-ranging regional conflict.

In view of these global trade tensions and regional conflicts, the global economic outlook has become considerably gloomier. Against this backdrop, a significant slowdown in throughput activity is anticipated at ports worldwide during the second half of the year. Drewry has already downgraded its forecast for global container throughput in 2025 compared to its March outlook, and now predicts growth of just 1.9 %. Due to the volatile macroeconomic conditions, this forecast remains subject to significant uncertainty.

The forecast for the Europe shipping region as a whole has been downgraded significantly from 3.2 % to 1.1 %. Drewry even forecasts a decline in container throughput in some areas during the second half of 2025. At the same time, congestion at the main maritime hubs in Northern Europe is increasing due to numerous strikes by dock workers and the reorganisation of container services following the launch of new shipping alliances in February 2025. Major ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremerhaven are increasingly facing handling problems as the number of delayed ship arrivals grows.