Matson’s New China Service Helps Increase Company Profits
February 8, 2007 by Splatty
Filed under Seafreight, Uncategorized
About six months ago we reported on a new China to Long Beach service offering from Matson line. Less than a year after beginning service, the foray into China has proved very profitable for the company. The new service helped contribute to a 4th quarter net income increase of 15.4 percent in 2006.
“The momentum of this service affirms our belief that Matson has established a superior reputation in China less than a year after its entry into that burgeoning marketplace,” said Allen Doane, chairman and chief executive of A&B.
Matson began service to China in February following the end of its 10-year APL alliance, in which Matson and APL shared vessel deployments to Guam. A&B had to begin new service to Guam, and used the opportunity to add China for the first time.
“2006 was a good year for Alexander & Baldwin, and it ended on a particularly positive note, providing momentum and a firm foundation for growth in the coming year,” Doane said. “Matson earned its stripes once again with the successful launch of its Guam and China service.”
The news of the new offering initially caught my attention because the transit time from China to Long Beach was touted to be more rapid than many competitors offerings.
“They have a superior service in that their ships can do the routes in less time (10.2 days) than their competitors,” Kremer said. “Basically, the key for them is to be able to leverage that value add, which they have not been able to do yet to get higher rates going forward. If they can get a better mix of products or find companies that are willing to pay up for the quicker shipments, that would even be better.”
A&B Chief Financial Officer Chris Benjamin said Matson’s ships can get goods from Shanghai to Long Beach faster than its competitors not because Matson’s vessels are any faster but because most of its competitors make a couple of stops along the way.
“We can get the cargo off the ship and to our customers two to three days faster than our competitors because we have nonstop service and a dedicated terminal for unloading the cargo,” he said.
I would be interested in hearing from any shipper or forwarder who has had experience utilizing this service.
Source – Starbulletin.com
swizstick on Fri, 9th Feb 2007 10:25 am
In the past I only used Matson for their Hawaii service, as they are pretty much the only game in town, and to put it mildly they sucked. I never had a good experience with them to Hawaii, but who else are you going to use?
So I’ll admit I was skeptical when I heard the news they were going to China, because I felt their customer service would be very poor. Seeing as how it has become profitable for them I would be very interested to hear from people who have used their service and compare it to their Hawaii service.