What to Expect From Shipping Alliances?

LOS ANGELES—Recently, consolidations and alliances dominated the shipping industry, and this year, we are going to see how these new alliances affect shipping, trade and pricing. Steven Rothberg, a partner at Mercator International, offered a look ahead at what he expects from these new alliances and a specific forecast of how they will perform in the Asia to California shipping route.

“The past 18 months have featured more structural change in the liner shipping industry than I have ever seen,” he said in his speech, offering the examples of the major recent mergers. Following rumors in October 2015, NOL sold APL to CMA in December of that year. Then, Costco and China Shipping merged in the same month. “In April, the two new firms announced the formation of the ocean alliance,” said Rothberg. “The formation of the Ocean Alliance caused them to come together to form the Transport Alliance in May.” As a result of these mergers, the liner industry has 10 global carriers, all of which are operating in three alliances.