ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to provide analysis of the many economic changes that have occurred in freight markets in recent decades. Whereas great technological leaps in container, bulker, tanker and Ro-Ro shipping were already well in train by the 1970s the three decades since have witnessed less evident, but equally forcible changes in the shape and composition of freight market supply and demand. The intention here is to build on the solid theoretical foundations of freight markets that the blossoming discipline of maritime economics had already provided by the 1970s. From this position, the critical changes that occurred in freight markets will be discussed and their impact on freight markets analysed. Additionally, the intention is to focus on the new trends already taking place in the freight market, including the increasing impact of environmental issues on the market.
