For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease.  Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels  In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall.  Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal."  "The backlogs of ships along European coasts ...