“Achieving this at such a critical time further underscores the refinery’s heart for the Nigerian people. As an active member of the Association, CORAN particularly celebrates the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the entire management and staff of the refinery for this laudable feat. Their resilience, innovation, and dedication continue to set the pace for the nation’s refining vision,” the statement read partly
Unexpected and un-planned for events have played a major role in the historically high returns made by the container lines since 2020, but the timing of demand-lowering US tariffs and the vast increase in new tonnage could end the carriers’ opportunistic profits.
A broader shake up of global supply chains is looming with the Trump administration likely to revisit its tariff regime and the resumption of transits via the Red Sea and Suez Canal. This combination will have the effect of dampening demand on the most lucrative trades, while adding further pressure through the oversupply of capacity.
Both events are expected to maintain the levels of uncertainty that for shippers, and vessel operators, presents a challenging situation, with the US Supreme Court anticipated to rule on the legality of the tariffs in the near future, while the growing overcapacity challenges could be supercharged by resumption of Suez navigation.
The reopening of the Suez Canal will release capacity absorbed by the Cape diversions, but the handling and timings of the shift back to the waterway will determine the amount of disruption that the changes will cause.
Freight rates on the major east-west trades have already taken a major hit this year as tariffs dampened US demand and a flood of new tonnage added to the downward pressure, shipbroker Braemar data shows that some 35% of the fleet is currently on order. A total of 1,122 ships aggregating 11.4m teu.