The economic equilibrium of individual companies and the shipping industry has historically been subject to cyclical trends. In the last ten years, new challenges have been added, such as meeting increasingly stringent environmental standards. The recent swing in freight rates has also provided the largest companies with a reserve of financial resources that are being used by pursuing strategies that are often not in line with the trends even of the recent past. One case in point is the seemingly sudden reversal of aggregations, alliances with certain players that have entered into a more aggressive and less collaborative structure.  In the ports, the regulatory and governance set-up is heading for a reform with characteristics to be deciphered. 

Main topics:

• financing and ESG
• cost structure
• national, European and supranational regulations
• criticalities in the structure of supply and demand
• oligopolies
• vertical and horizontal integration
• ports in search of new roles