Even as Cosco becomes confident it will achieve a full-year profit and avoid delisting, it was denying reports that former chairman Wei Jiafu was placed under travel restrictions, after one of its top executives resigned under a cloud of investigation.
After a strong start in the first quarter, container volumes in the trans-Atlantic trade have declined, and average vessel utilization has dropped sharply, eroding freight rates. As a result, container lines are likely to start canceling vessel sailings in October, according to Drewry.
The deliveries of new ultra-large container ships that are scheduled later this year will further depress Asia-Europe freight rates unless carriers make more radical changes, Drewry Shipping Consultants report.
China Shipping Container Lines plans to order five 18,000 20-foot-equivalent unit container ships, the world's largest, becoming the first carrier to challenge Maersk Line, which will deploy the first vessel of this size in the Asia-Europe trade in June.
Doing business in other countries means working within the cultural context. Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, which started Feb. 10, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays.
The world container ship capacity reached 16.335 million 20-foot-equivalent units on Jan. 1, 2013, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago, according to industry analyst Alphaliner.
Conventional refrigerated ships continue to lose market share to container lines offering increased capacity for reefer boxes, according to a new analysis of the market by the Netherlands-based research and consulting firm Dynamar.
Containerized imports in Los Angeles increased 3.38 percent in September year-over-year, reaching the highest total of 2012. Imports in neighboring Long Beach edged up 0.7 percent over last September.
The American Association of Port Authorities says delays in setting technical specifications for Transportation Worker Identification Credential card scanners could force ports to shoulder extra costs.
