Maersk: Downturn in cargo from Asia to US, Europe may extend to 2012

Maersk Line, the world largest container shipping group, expects the cargo transportation slowdown to the United States and Europe from Asia to spill over to next year but this would be cushioned by the growth in emerging economies.
Maersk country manager for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Bjarne Foldager said that the shipping industry was currently affected by the sluggish global economy and this had been apparent on the volume of goods transported to the United States and Europe.
“This is expected and the cargo growth slowdown between Asia and Europe could be well extended into next year.
Just-in-time: Foldager (inset) says Ma ersk’s new service on the Asia-North Europe trade route offers daily cutoff at the same time every day, seven days a week, and always with the exact transportation time.
“Nevertheless, we do see a lot of growth in emerging economies where intra-Asia trade has been robust as well as the trade between China and India.
“Also, we are seeing good trade growth to Africa, Latin America and South America. It’s a mix now where the mature market is slowing down and emerging markets are growing,” he told StarBiz after the introduction of the company’s new service, Daily Maersk to its customers here.
Daily Maersk, a service offering containerised cargo would now be delivered with unprecedented frequency and reliability.
Daily Maersk, Maersk’s new service on the Asia-North Europe trade lane, offers a daily cut-off at the same time every day, seven days a week, and always with the exact transportation time. This will be helpful to many customers who are frequently forced to adjust their production schedules and supply chains due to shipping inefficiency.
On why Maersk introduced the service amid the slowdown in trade between Asia and Europe, Foldager said that for the new service, they had secured a good cargo base and had the capacity to create the economies of scale.
“What’s more important is that we wanted to create value for our customers’ businesses. We want shipping to be the strongest part of the supply chain rather than the weakest.
“This is because currently, the global average delayed container transportation more than a day is about 44%. At Daily Maersk, we are sure that we can deliver their containers on time and we provide compensation if we are late,” he said.
Maersk posted good results last year after sailing through choppy waters in 2009.
The A.P. Moller-Maersk Group delivered a profit of US$5bil in 2010, thanks to increased competitiveness and a rebound in the global economy.
“Yes, we did very well last year and it’s the best year ever in terms of financial performance.
“This was not due to the growth in the market alone as we, before the global economic downturn in 2008, have embarked on a strategy to increase our competitiveness and to be more cost effective. So, because of that we are in a much better position now to go out and win even in this difficult market,” he said.
Foldager said Malaysia was important to the company as it handled a lot of transhipment containers for goods originated from Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
“Additionally, the country’s trade with Europe is also quite robust for both import and export,” he said.
AP Moller-Maersk Group holds a 30% stake in the country’s major transhipment terminal, Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor.
On new orders, Foldager said Maersk would receive the first of its orders for its the triple-E class container vessels in 2013.
Triple-E will have the capacity for 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. This type of container vessels emit 20% less carbon dioxide per container moved compared with the most efficient container vessel operating today and 50% less than the industry average for vessels operating on the Asia-Europe services.

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