New trends for the price of sea transport

Filed in archive Market Overview on December 8, 2006

(Note: Here is the second part of the Logistics Management's summary on trends in price of different modes of transportation)

In October 2006, another 3.6% price hike beset shippers who moved freight via inland waterways. Recent discussions with shippers indicated that continuing price hikes are related to severe equipment shortages that simply are not being resolved quickly enough. One shipper said that before Hurricane Katrina, rates for moving cargo in the Gulf via smaller Barge companies were running $50 to $100 a day. Now, the price range is $200 to $225. With these new insights, our forecast for shipping on inland waterways now calls for average prices to increase 18.5% in the final quarter of 2006 compared to the same period a year earlier. In 2007, average prices are predicted to be up 14.5%, instead of the 7.6% we had previously forecasted. Until construction of new barges picks up more steam, shippers will continue to suffer.