The unprecedented surge in container shipping freight rates is waning. Various measures show the strong pricing that helped fuel big shipping line profits and major customer headaches are in clear retreat so far this year. Rates remain high by historical standards, but pricing should continue to drop as carriers prepare to take in significant new capacity late this year. Global shipping rates have dropped 16% since the start of the year.
European oil and gas companies, such as Shell and Total, continue to lead the transformation in the energy space toward cleaner alternatives that will not only help curb global warming, but likely will allow those companies and their investors to thrive. Energy research company BloombergNEF says U.S. companies, on the other hand, including Chevron, greatly lag their global counterparts in the green space.
