Concerns over inflationary fuel price pressure and its potential impact on the balance sheet of major container lines has led Wells Fargo to downgrade both two major shipowners and some container lessors.
The expected jump in bunker costs connected to incoming emissions laws in 2020 could lead to financial struggles at some container lines, analyst Mike Webber argued.
“We know it’s early, and we know some larger lines are, rather belatedly, moving towards scrubbers and suggesting ambitious fuel/IMO related surcharges, but there’s simply too much history supporting the idea that container line credit risk leads to poor equity performance for box [and] ship lessors to...
