Subscribe to RSS feedMOL president warns container lines face $10bn loss
The world’s container lines could be heading for collective losses of US$10bn this year, according to Mitsui OSK Lines president Akimitsu Ashida, writes Keith Wallis.
Industry losses expected to stack up
Mr Ashida said first quarter results from the world’s biggest carriers showed total losses of around US$2.6bn.
This figure was likely to top US$3bn if the financial performance of smaller carriers was taken into account, he said.
Extrapolating the first quarter figures over the full year, Mr Ashida said lines could face a total “US$10bn loss” in 2009.
Mr Ashida said the first quarter was typically a slack period, with relatively low cargo volumes, while more cargo was expected in the second and third quarters.
However, even if there was a recovery in container volumes, he said the large volume of newbuildings expected to enter service would depress the market and affect financial performance.
“More cargo in the second and third quarters will be offset by new capacity,” Mr Ashida said yesterday during the Asian Shipowners’ Forum, which attracted 118 delegates from shipowner groups in Asia.
Evergreen Marine chairman Arnold Wang said the bottom in the container trades should be reached in the second quarter.
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