Container shipping rates improved by 5.0% sequentially during 2Q 2019, with China outbound rates having increased by 2.6%, helped by a surge in China-to-U.S. rates. The latter come amid uncertainties for logistics firms and industrial supply chains relating to the U.S.-China trade war. Those are unlikely to be resolved in the short-term and are unlikely to clear as the peak shipping season looms. China outbound shipping rates at the end of June were 3.4% higher than mid-May compared to an 8.2% rise in the same period of 2018. A 2.1% decline in bunker fuel costs during 2Q has meant th...