Commentary

Industrial real estate markets across North America will post steady growth through 2012.

The logistics real estate market in the U.S. fought an uphill battle throughout 2012. Tenants, primarily retailers and third-party logistics providers, absorbed approximately 125 million square feet of space, 35 percent less than 2011. Yet demand has been positive for 10 quarters, and 2013 will bring a nearly forgotten challenge for beneficial cargo owners and other users of large warehouses: a lack of quality space.

Freight forwarding has been one of the most successful sectors of the global logistics industry over the past decade. The industry has achieved substantial growth due to globalization, which has led manufacturing to locate to remote markets.

2012 began with the global trade interests bracing for economic storms. It ended with a literal storm. As Hurricane Sandy sent waves crashing through homes in much of the U.S. East Coast, airports such as John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia in New York, and Newark Liberty in New Jersey closed. Flights and commerce were grounded.

Many of us in the freight transportation industry in general, and the container shipping sector especially, read multiple industry-related publications in an effort to keep up with issues, to try to understand the environment that impacts our daily working lives and, ideally, to help us in our decision making. I’m constantly drawn to numbers because they spin no tales, they have no agenda and they are what they are as long as you know and understand the context.

We have the ocean transportation industry’s version of the “fiscal cliff” for 2013.