Analysis of the situation of sea transportation, characteristics of international sea transportation

The entry process of enterprises in China's maritime industry

From the perspective of the process of enterprise entry, China's representative water transport enterprises were established before 2010. Most of the water transport enterprises were established between 1990 and 2000, such as Changhang Phoenix, COSCO Haite, Bohai Ferry, etc.; Established from 2005 to 2010, COSCO SHIPPING Development, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings and China Grain Flow are all large enterprises with high registered capital.

Note: The horizontal axis represents the year of establishment of the enterprise; The vertical axis represents the month of establishment of the enterprise; The size of the bubble represents the registered capital of the enterprise.

The capacity pattern of China's maritime industry

Sea freight refers to sea transportation, which is a way to use ships to transport goods between ports in different countries and regions through sea lanes, and is the most important mode of transportation in the world. At present, there are many enterprises participating in China's shipping industry as a whole, and the leading position in the industry is significant. In terms of capacity, in 2022, CMES Shipping's capacity accounted for 47% of the country's total shipping capacity.

In second place is COSCO Shipping, accounting for 29% of the total capacity of the shipping industry.

Note: 1) The listed enterprises that have published the relevant capacity and volume data are the listed enterprises, and the listed companies that have not published the specific production capacity and output data are not included in the statistics. 2) The total shipping capacity of the country is calculated according to the data released by the Ministry of Transport.

The volume pattern of China's maritime industry

According to the pattern of sea freight volume, in 2022, COSCO Shipping will have the highest volume of 100 million tons. In second place is China Merchants Steamship, with a capacity of 100 million tons. The rest of the enterprises have a volume of less than 50 million tons.

The regional pattern of China's shipping enterprises

From Qichamao, the precise search with "shipping" as the keyword is used to obtain the regional distribution of shipping enterprises. From the perspective of the regional distribution of shipping enterprises, at present, China's shipping enterprises are mainly distributed in the southeast coastal areas, especially represented by Guangdong and Jiangsu. As of May 4, 2023, there are tens of thousands of related shipping companies in Guangdong and 10,000 in Jiangsu.

Note: Qichamao data is as of May 4, 2023.

China's maritime market is highly concentrated

From the perspective of the market concentration of shipping capacity, the market concentration of China's shipping industry is relatively high. In 2022, China's shipping industry will have an oligopoly market structure of 76% in CR2 and 84% in CR5, with a high market concentration and strong control over the market.

Last week, Hapag-Lloyd announced its results for the first quarter of 2023, with a decline in overall results. The company's chief executive, Habben Jansen, said no one would believe that spot rates had fallen to such low levels, with rates below operating costs on some routes. Especially on the Pacific route.

The freight rate is lower than the cost, coupled with some recent developments in the market, it seems that we see that the container shipping industry is entering the abyss of the first war.

Alan Murphy, chief executive of container consultancy Sea Intelligence, said the market was "ripe" for today's battle.

Since there has been a lot of overcapacity, more capacity will be put into use this year and next, coupled with a weak demand environment, the market is ripe for a war to break out, especially in the past few years when shipping companies have been overfunded for war. ”

There are three ways to avoid the ** war in the container transportation industry. One is the sudden surge in demand, which is close to the peak demand during the pandemic. the second is large-scale dismantling and idle capacity; The third is that the container shipping company refuses to accept money-losing goods. But Murphy said none of the three scenarios have happened so far.

Hua Joo Tan, head of research institute Linerlytica, described the battle as "uneventful." "Shipping companies have given up all of their earnings in April," Tan said.

Blank routes are being cancelled, sailing speeds are rising, and shipping lines have increased charter rates. ”

Meanwhile, Simon Heaney, senior manager of container research at Drewry, refuted the claims about the ** war. Simon Heaney said that if you look at the three-year roller coaster of container freight rates, it's a normalization, not a battle.

Compared with other modes of international cargo transportation, ocean transportation mainly has the following characteristics:

1) Large passing capacity. Ocean transport can take advantage of natural waterways that extend in all directions, unlike trains and automobiles, which are limited by tracks and roads.

2) Large volume. The carrying capacity of ocean transport vessels is much greater than that of railway transport vehicles and road transport vehicles. For example, the carrying capacity of a ship of 10,000 tons is generally equivalent to the carrying capacity of 250,300 wagons.

3) Low freight. The sea freight volume is large, the voyage is long, and the transportation cost per freight ton is less apportioned.

A contract of carriage, also known as a contract of carriage, refers to a contract in which the carrier transports passengers or goods from the place of departure to the agreed place, and the passenger, shipper or consignee pays the fare or transportation costs.

Ocean transportation is the most important mode of transportation in international logistics, which refers to a way of using ships to transport goods between ports in different countries and regions through sea lanes. At present, more than 2 3 of the total international traffic volume, about 90% of China's total import and export freight are transported by sea.

Legal basis

Article 1 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on International Maritime Transport.

These Regulations are formulated in order to regulate international maritime transport activities, protect fair competition, maintain the order of the international maritime transport market, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties to international maritime transport.

Article 2 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on International Maritime Transport.

These Regulations apply to international maritime transport business activities in and out of the ports of the People's Republic of China, as well as ancillary business activities related to international maritime transport.

The ancillary business activities related to international maritime transport as mentioned in the preceding paragraph include international shipping**, international ship management, international maritime cargo handling, international maritime cargo warehousing, international marine container stations and yards as provided for in these Regulations.

Causes (1) The safety of the route.

Safety means that the shipping route must first take into account various phenomena in nature, such as wind direction, tides, waves, reefs and currents. Because these factors are related to the safety of ship navigation, they are the primary factors affecting the formation of routes.

2) Stability of the supply of goods.

The stability of the supply of goods refers to whether there is enough freight volume on the route, whether the round-trip freight volume is balanced, the development trend of port freight, the change trend of product structure, the supply and demand relationship and competition trend on the route, etc., which are all important factors in the formation of routes. If there is a trend towards increasing cargo traffic, it is likely to become a busy route in the future.

3) Port conditions.

Port conditions refer to whether the ports at both ends of the route and along the route are appropriately located, have good climate, suitable water depth, wide waterways, complete storage and loading and unloading equipment, convenient inland transportation, low port fees, and sufficient fuel. These conditions are the factors that affect the prosperity and decline of the route.

4) Technical factors.

Technical factors refer to the principle that the route should conform to the most economical, reasonable and rapid routes. Sailing on the greatest circle line shortens the distance, saves time and money, and is the most advantageous route to operate. Another example is that after the completion and opening of the Suez Canal, the current route does not need to detour through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa; After the opening of the Panama Canal, the two oceanic routes will be shortened by thousands of nautical miles without passing through Cape Horn in South America.

5) Laws, policies, tariffs, shipping policies of countries along the route, customs laws, economic policies, shipping policies, etc. of countries and ports along the route also have an impact on the formation and selection of routes. Whether the choice of route is appropriate or not is related to the success or failure of the marine transportation industry. Therefore, all shipping companies attach great importance to the selection and development of routes.

That is, ocean transportation, which is a mode of transportation that uses ships and other water transport tools to transport goods through sea waterways. It has the advantages of large volume and low cost, but the transportation speed is slow and affected by natural conditions. Shipping schedules and transit times.