Maersk Exec: Box Ship Industry Cargo Could See 2-4% Growth in 2017
Rene Piil Pedersen, Maersk Group‘s Representative for Asia Pacific, says container vessels’ cargo volumes have been projected to grow by 2 to 4 percent in 2017 compared to 1.5 percent to 2 percent in 2016, Platts reports.
“The economy in both Europe and U.S. is picking up though it is not back to the heyday, there is a lot of talk of Chinese economy growing. The oil export-dependent economies in West Africa and South America will benefit for the increase in crude prices,” said Pedersen at a Seatrade roundtable discussion.
Still, with a large number of newbuilds on the orderbook, Pedersen says there remains “a big question of how that capacity will be managed.”
While the World Container Index is noted to have fallen by nearly 3 percent week on week as of March 23, declining to $1,350.61 per FEU, the index is sitting at over double what it was one year ago.
“The increase compared with the previous year is from a very low base and we are not out of the woods yet,” said Pedersen.
Earlier this month, Moore Stephens UK (Moore Stephens) said the average shipping confidence level in February 2017 held steady from November 2016 at 5.6 out of 10.0.
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Source: Ship & Bunker
