At TPM24, the TPM Cold Chain breakout track is the No. 1 gathering globally for the refrigerated cold chain, with participation from the major carriers, cold storage, trucking companies and the major forwarders and BCOs in this space.
Theme: Recovering from the abyss
Following the devastating impact of the pandemic on the reefer container market, the damage is done. Even with the pandemic now in the rearview mirror, the market will need time to recover; Despite favorable overall economic trends globally, the reefer market which account for 6-7% of container volumes globally, will see perishable volumes actually drop in 2023 following widespread shipper bankruptcies resulting from supply chain disruptions in 2021 and 2022. A combination of weeks-long port delays and a rare pricing inversion where dry containers fetched higher rates than reefers left growers with stranded cargoes and deprived of the cash flow needed to pay the up-front expenses required to get fresh produce to the point of export.
The impact of the experience on the reefer market and the time required for the market to recover were key themes at TPM Cold Chain. No less challenging for reefer shippers is a deterioration in the high-touch carrier customer service the market requires, especially for the fresh/ perishable cargo segment, which typically suffers when container rates are weak as they are currently and will likely remain given tepid overall container growth and a deluge of new capacity entering the market in 2023-2025. That is on top of negative impact of slow steaming of carrier fleets, down to speeds of 13-14 knots in some cases, carriers’ response to IMO ship efficiency rules and overcapacity.
