Little evidence of rebound in shipping
January 31, 2013 Category Logistics, Ports & sea transport
Some executives from shipping companies that carry containers full of China-made products mainly to Europe and North America say they see little evidence of a strong rebound in seaborne exports. Stephen Ng, Director of trade for Orient Overseas Container Line, said the company wasn’t seeing “any particular upsurge” in container volumes on its Asia-to-Europe or trans-Pacific services. Parent Orient Overseas International said its container-shipping trans-Pacific services volume fell 6.8% in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier. Volume on Asia-to-Europe services grew 2.8% compared with the year-earlier quarter. Consulting firm Alphaliner expects modest demand growth this year, forecasting a 1% rise on Asia-Europe services and a 1.6% trans-Pacific rise. Last year, Asia-to-Europe volumes declined 5% while trans-Pacific volumes fell 0.4%, according to Alphaliner estimates. The vast majority of containers on both routes carry exports from China. “We see a rally in shipping-company shares but the industry has not fundamentally improved,” says Bonnie Chan, Analyst with Macquarie Securities, citing a continued weak trade outlook as well as overcapacity and low rates within the industry. Despite a recent rise in China’s exports, analysts say the latest figures are influenced by exceptional factors such as backlogs caused by port strikes in the U.S. Others in the industry said they see some growth. Tim Smith, Maersk Line’s North Asia Chief Executive, said the company was experiencing “a rather unexpected strong pickup in exports” from China, especially to Europe, a rise he said looks set to continue up to the Lunar New Year in mid-February. Global supply of container-shipping capacity is expected to grow up to 9% in 2013 while demand growth is expected to grow between 4% and 6%, Alphaliner said, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world