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Asian
shipowners are of the view that the current level of the market was still
not adequate for shipping lines to recover their past investments.
The owners who met in Tokyo, Japan recently the gains made in the increase
in freight rates would be challenged rapidly increasing cost factors such as
a lack of containers due to a shortage of steel plates, the upsurge in
charter rates, soaring bunker prices, rising charges of harbours, railways,
truckers and feeders and escalating shipbuilding prices.
The delegates felt that in order to provide the high quality and stable
services it was essential to recover for past investment, compensate for
present escalating operating costs and execute necessary reinvestment for
the future.
The owners who met under the aegis of the Asian Shipping Forum urged strong
leadership by the CEOs in authorized trade-lane agreements in order to
essential to attain the steady and sustainable operation of the liner
business.
The ASF Shipping Economics Review Committee held earlier this month reminded
the CEOs of the shipping companies on the importance of 3-C key words -
Confidence, Cooperation and communication - adopted in the number of past
meetings.
On the contentious issue of maritime security issues, the shipowners body
noted that some countries and regions are expected to introduce similar
regulations to the security related rules of the US in the near future.
The owners urged that that rules applied to the shipping industry should be
internationally harmonised because of its cross-border activities and
shipowners should duly explain this aspect to the respective authorities.
They pointed out that various measures to comply with maritime security
regulations required considerable resources on the part of shipping
companies.
Reviewing the performance of the Intra-Asia trade, it was reported that the
container cargo movement in 2003 reached about 8.3 million TEUs which
represented a 14.9 per cent increase on the previous year's figure.
The meeting noted that the market had shown an upturn in 2004 with the
prospective improvement of the supply-demand balance.
All the CEOs were therefore strongly requested to have a correct recognition
on the current situation in that trade and to guide their companies
appropriately.
The Shipping Economics Review Committee (SERC) is a forum for CEOs of
shipping lines to review macroeconomic trade information and developments,
as they relate to shipping.
The objective of the SERC is to improve the quality of executive
decision-making by the review of available economic data and the sharing of
perspectives on major trade issues.
The meeting noted that the cargo movement in the transpacific trade could be
expected to grow by 12 per cent to 15 per cent annually in 2004 and 2005
according to the correlation between cargo movement and GDP in the last ten
years.
The meeting also noted that the recently released WTO's prospects that the
global GDP growth was expected to reach 3.7 per cent and global trade could
expand by 7.5 per cent in value in 2004, up from 2.5 and 4.5 per cent
respectively in 2003. |
