Maersk Line says Asia freight rates very low

Monday, 20 June 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Container shipping rates are still low on Asia-to-Europe routes because of a glut of capacity entering the market, the head of the world’s biggest container shipping company told a German paper.

“Freight rates for Africa and South America and on transatlantic routes are sound, but very low on routes between Asia and Northern Europe,” Eivind Kolding, head of Maersk Line, told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

He said this was down to a flood of container ships being brought into service on the route in April and May and that some shippers were therefore trying to fill up the capacity on the spot market.

“It’s not a long-term problem, but it is a problem for this year,” he said.

Maersk Line, which carries 15 per cent of all seaborne containers, is part of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk After the shipping market slumped in 2009, Maersk Line last year bounced back to profit of $ 2 billion.

Kolding said, however, it would be difficult to reach that again this year.