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DESPITE
expectations of weaker global demand for goods, Maersk
Lines Philippines expects to post a “modest” growth in
exports this year and may have to expand its service in
the southern part of the country.
Maersk
Lines, one of the
Philippines’
main carriers of import and export goods, said it is in
the process of upgrading its Mindanao service, which
will allow the company to serve the growing demand from
small and large customers.
“We
expect a modest growth for exports in 2008,” Maersk
Lines country manager Jesper Dalgaard Larsen said. He
did not cite any number.
Also, he
did not elaborate on the upgrade of their
Mindanao service.
Larsen
said the climate for the shipping industry is affected
by recent developments in the world economy, especially
rising crude and food prices.
In the
foreseeable future, there is economic growth—much less
than in the previous years—that shipping companies like
Maersk Lines would hope to translate into larger
container volumes, he said.
“Concerns have also been raised that the supply/demand
situation will deteriorate over the coming years due to
a combination of weakening demand and a large order book
of new container vessels. But if you look at the
figures provided by well-reputed independent analysts,
it is clear that this view that supply will be in excess
of demand is not supported by hard numbers,” he said.
Maersk
Lines recently introduced a new formula called the
“bunker adjustment factor.” Larsen said it has
“generally been well-received by its customers” both
here and abroad. The shipping firm consumes more than 10
million tons of bunker fuel per year.
The
shipping line is a part of the A.P. Moller-Maersk group,
which has over 110,000 employees worldwide and offices
in more than 125 countries. Sister firm MCC Transport
Singapore
last month deployed its second container vessel to the
Visayas-Mindanao route, a move that supports an expected
growth of cargo volumes.
The new
vessel, which has a capacity to move 966 containers,
will be placed either in the Cebu to northern Mindanao
route or Davao to General Santos.
MCC
Philippines is a joint venture among MCC Singapore which
holds a controlling stake of 40 percent, Aboitiz
Transport System Corp. which owns 33 percent and
Mercantile Ocean Maritime Co. which owns the remaining
27 percent. |
