Factors influencing the formation of freight rates on maritime shipping markets

Maritime shipping has a significant role in maritime policies and overall economic development of every maritime country. The fact that 2/3 of the total world trade of goods are done by maritime routes and that the sea is the least expensive trade route is enough to see the importance of its existence for every maritime country. The whole world and overall world trade, in maritime and other sectors, are defined by the relationship between supply and demand and prices on the market. Precisely for this reason it is important to well understand these relations and their mutual impacts. Therefore, in order to present the changeable state of shipping markets, in this paper we will use the supply and demand model which is connected to the freight rate i.e. the price of maritime transport service, which through its influence on the shipper and the shipowner balances the supply and demand. The aim of this paper is to point out the factors which influence the maritime shipping markets. In the paper we indicated and analyzed ten main factors; five influencing the demand, and five influencing the supply on the maritime transport market.