Wild swings in profitability have become de riguer for an industry lurching between good and bad times, but the bad times appear to be winning.

After months of holding back, the inventories of Europe and US retailers must be pretty low by now. Surely it is time for restocking.

It looks like game over for thousands of mainland manufacturers as a 20 percent hike in the minimum wage coincides with a 30 percent drop in orders.

The tanker market is facing a bleak future as China restates its intention to control the transport of 50 percent of its crude oil needs by 2015.

US$573. That’s what it cost to ship a 40ft container from Asia to Europe last week, according to the Shanghai Container Freight Index.

If you are unlucky enough to have most of your investment portfolio tied up in Hong Kong-listed shipping stocks you are probably teetering on a ledge somewhere high up and running through various options.

The number of vessels with a capacity greater than 10,000 TEU that will be delivered between now and December next year has reached epic proportions.

Malaysia’s top carrier has decided to exit the container shipping business altogether, tired of having its profitability dragging on the ocean floor.

Beijing’s Go West policy and its pledge to maintain south China ports’ hub status appear to be conflicting strategies.