Shipping Cycle
Shipping cycles play an important role in the shipping industry for managing the
risk of shipping investment. A ship is an expensive item of capital equipment. The
return on investment of ships depends on the volume of trade. If ships are not
invested in but trade grows, then business will come to a halt owing to a shortage
of ships. If ships are invested in but trade does not grow, the expensive ships will
be laid up. This is the shipping risk pertinent to ship investment. Cargo owners
may decide to take this shipping risk when they are confident about their cargo
volume in the future. Cargo owners may transport cargoes with their own fleets.
This type of operation is known as “industrial shipping”. Alternatively, shippers
may prefer shipowners to bear such shipping risk, and they go to the freight market
to hire ships to transport their cargoes. Under such circumstances, shipowners
trade ships and take the shipping risk. For shipping investors, it is necessary to
understand the shipping market cycles.