市场调整:承运人和托运人通过签订合同减少运费波动

Making Market Adjustments:Carriers and shippers want to reduce rate volatility and contracting is at the heart of the effort

就集装箱货运合同而言，18个月显然太长了。不过，轮胎制造商米其林已经开始签订这样的合同。这样做是为了在航运业推广新的承运人与托运人关系。米其林航运管理委员会负责人让-路易斯·康鹏说：“我们需要新的业务模式。我们必须彻底改变做业务的心态。”

Agreement has been concluded among carriers and shippers at the 13th Annual Global Liner Shipping Conference hosted in London recently by Containerisation International.But the agreement contrasted sharply with the rancor that spread through the business during the 2008-09 recession.With economic recovery providing some equilibrium and distance from the downturn,the focus on better ways of doing business came with more than a few areas of common ground.That was especially true in what shippers and carriers said remains a search for reduced rate volatility,a goal growing more urgent as the push grows for longer-term contracts that span several cycles and carry significant risks across the supply chain.