Where the volumes are - carriers turn to intra-Asia to
stay afloat

INTRA-ASIA container trades have been drawing ocean liners due to the availability of cheap charter vessels and economies of scale between China and Southeast Asia, according to Florida's Maritime Executive magazine.
Financially troubled shipping lines are increasingly seeking salvation in the intra-Asia market due to higher than usual cargo growth and the availability of cheap vessel charter rates, it said.
Some deployments include Maersk-owned MCC Transport and NYK's weekly Japan-China-Thailand service, which calls at Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, Hong Kong, Shenzhen-Shekou, Laem Chabang, Xiamen and Tokyo. >More
 

ASEAN economies need to sort out customs and harmonise
trade rules

THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states are being urged to accelerate the creation of common customs procedures and harmonise its rules to significantly lift trade within the region of 600 million people.
According to Philippines Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Southeast Asia is unlikely to achieve its aim of integrating its 10 economies by 2015, but it has the potential to become a trading hub for Asia if it creates an economic community.
Mr Purisima said that intra-ASEAN trade has grown 18 per cent, far outstripping the growth in global commerce. >More
 

Ports in Indonesia gain momentum to expedite development

INDONESIA has made remarkable progress in setting the framework for further development of its ports after the promulgation of the 2008 Shipping Law.
As the world's largest archipelago, this ASEAN member country is projected to double its GDP by 2020, increasing from US$900 billion in 2012 to $1.9 trillion by 2020, according to a Port Strategy report.
Additionally, Indonesian container freight volumes are forecast to "at least double" from 2012 to 2020. >More
 

Intra-Asia lines need to cooperate or go bankrupt due to
alarmingly low rates

WHILE Intra-Asia trade volumes are expected to experience persistent growth, this region has ironically become a very unstable and feeble market over the past few years despite having promising prospects.
As the rates have shrunk to a dangerously low level, many Intra-Asia carriers are beset with survival problem now.
"We will see more bankruptcies if rates don't go up," warned chief executive Tim Wickmann of Singapore-based MCC Transport, a subsidiary of AP Moller-Maersk, in a media interview in April. >More
 

Dogged by cost, Singapore stays ahead as king of
competence, rising up the value chain

SINGAPORE may have lost its number one spot to Shanghai as the world's busiest container port, but it moves up the value chain into a world where tonnage means less than dollar volume produced by its own high-end electronics and pharmaceuticals that not only require high skills to make, but can also get to market.
Singapore's location is a big plus as a transshipment gateway to Asia, but it has retained more manufacturing that one would have expected, and has managed this trend-bucking accomplishment by moving up the value chain. >More