One sign of life for container shipping: The cost to transport a container in the Asia-to-Europe route rose 55% from a year earlier. Photo: Darren Soh/BloombergThe shipping industry, which has ailed for years, is finally showing signs of recovery. Now, thanks to the improving global economy, industry executives and analysts say the worst may be over, at least for container and dry-bulk ship operators. Container shipping, which moves 95% of all manufactured goods, was rattled last year by the bankruptcy of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., which stranded billions of dollars worth of cargo at sea. Operators of the biggest dry-bulk cargo ships known as capesize vessels have been hit hard over the past few years by anemic demand in China for the coal, iron ore and other commodities those ships transport.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 07, 2017 14:00 UTC