Maersk Line: Asia More Shielded From A Downturn

Maersk
Line, the world’s largest container shipping firm and a unit of Danish shipping
and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, said the global shipping industry is expected
to grow 7 to 8 percent this year.
    “Asia is the factory of the world, so
Asia doesn’t grow anymore than the U.S.
and Europe is willing to buy,” Maersk
Line’s Asia Pacific Chief Executive Jesper Praestensgaard told Reuters in an
interview on Wednesday.
    “But
the intra-Asia trade is growing relatively more than between the regions, so
Asia is probably more shielded from a downturn in the U.S. and Europe.”
    Maersk
Line, which operates over 500 container vessels and 1.9 million containers,
earlier this month ordered 16 ships for delivery in 2010-2012, in addition to
18 new ships ordered in June for 2011-2012 delivery, as it sees continued
strong shipping growth between the east coast of South America, Asia and Europe.
    A.P.
Moller-Maersk is planning to slash about half its container handling capacity
in Taiwan‘s Kaohsiung,
Asia‘s No. 6 port, when some leases expire in
October, as the container shipping industry comes under pressure from a slowing
world economy and rising fuel prices.