Global Shipping Stocks Plunge as US Dockworkers Halt Strike After Just Three Days, Sparking Predictions of Lower Sea Freight Costs
# Global Shipping Stocks Fall After Longshore Workers Temporarily End Strike
Freight rates are expected to return to normal.
On October 3, 2023, container ships were docked along the coast of Long Beach, New York. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)
Global shipping stocks fell after a three-day strike by U.S. longshore workers was suspended, prompting forecasts that ocean freight prices would decline.
AP Moller-Maersk A/S in Copenhagen saw its shares drop as much as 8.6%, marking the largest fall in eight months, while German peer Hapag-Lloyd AG plunged 14%. Asian stocks also experienced significant declines, including Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., Ltd. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd., with ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. sliding in pre-market trading in New York.
In the list of [world’s largest logistics companies](https://www.ttnews.com/globalfreight/rankings/2023) published by Transport Topics, Maersk ranks 5th, Hapag-Lloyd 13th, Cosco Shipping 8th, and ZIM 33rd.
Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. noted that the swift resumption of operations at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports would put pressure on an already oversupplied market.
“Now that the strike lasted only 72 hours, we believe the ripple effect is limited, and expect freight rates to continue normalizing,” wrote Alexia Dogani and colleagues in a report.
The union representing workers stated in a press release that U.S. longshoremen had agreed to resume cargo operations while continuing collective bargaining with employers over new contracts. Since October 1 when the contract expired, container ports from Houston to Miami to Boston have been closed.
With news of the strike suspension, Asian shipping stocks fell, reversing gains made due to the looming union action.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha listed in Tokyo ended down 9.7%, while South Korea’s Pan Ocean Co. dropped 5.4%, and Hong Kong-listed Cosco Shipping declined by 7.3%.
“Short-term traders are pulling back their bets,” said Tsuyoshi Hori, an analyst at Mito Securities Co.
_Authors: Joe Easton, Haruka Iwai, Yasutaka Tamura_
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Source: Transport Topics
