Worst crisis in the history of container shipping is not over – CEO of Maersk Line (a TPM recap)
March 2, 2010 by 3plwire
Filed under Education, Featured, Seafreight, Supply Chain Management
While Eivind Kolding, Partner and CEO of Maersk Line, believes that the worst is behind the container line industry, the pain is far from over. As the keynote speaker at this year’s 2010 Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in Long Beach this morning, Mr. Kolding noted that while there appears to be a good balance in supply vs. demand, it remains fragile. Trade volumes are up, but still way off from historical norms. The supply imbalance of container ships is lower, but still exists. The rate increases the carriers are seeing right now are good, but who knows when someone in the industry will bring in more tonnage than the market can absorb?
2009 was certainly a bad year for carriers: Mr. Kolding cited a 29% drop in container rates that contributed to an estimated $20 billion dollars in industry losses for the year. Import volumes are currently up 13%, but retail sales have only increased by 1%, therefore the volume increases could be short lived once inventory restocking is over. Consumer confidence is up, but still below where it should be.
On the question of industry consolidation, he highlighted the fact that too many players are chasing the same pieces of the pie. Even Maersk Line, the giant in the industry, only controls a 15.8% market share and the top 10 carriers in terms of volume barely control 60% of the market. Despite this, he doesn’t think we’ll see any shipping lines go down due to the downturn or from acquisition. Meanwhile, rates on the trans-pacific trade lanes are break-even at best.
Somewhat surprisingly, he had some critical words for his own company and the liner industry as a whole regarding delivery reliability and overall service. I’m paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect of “Our delivery reliability is appalling as an industry; best in class is only 60%. If we could get to 95% reliability customers could reduce inventory buffer by 60%.” He also expressed support for one-click shipping, citing statistics that showed that they amend each BL at least once.
On the question of slow steaming and the ever larger containerships entering the market, he insisted slow steaming was here to stay; partly as an environmental initiative and partly to save on bunker costs. As for the mega ships, he expects the trend for bigger ships to continue. “There is no reverse in the development of bigger vessels”, he said and reported that the majority of the vessels being laid up are the smaller, older ships: virtually all of the larger, more economical ships, are all in service.
Worst crisis in the history of container shipping is not over – CEO of Maersk Line (a TPM recap) | Air Freight Jobs on Fri, 23rd Apr 2010 2:17 pm
[...] While Eivind Kolding, Partner and CEO of Maersk Line, believes that the worst is behind the container line industry, the pain is far from over. As the keynote speaker at this year’s 2010 Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in Long Beach this morning, Mr. Kolding noted that while there appears to be a good balance in supply [...] View full post on Third Party Logistics News – 3PL wire [...]