Maersk has in a short time taken a big leap forward in the intra-Asia market and is now approaching the route’s leading player, Chinese COSCO.
According to Alphaliner, Maersk has increased its capacity in the area by about 100,000 teu in the last year. This puts the Danish carrier just a few thousand slots behind COSCO in the world’s largest container freight market.
Hapag-Lloyd – Maersk’s partner in the Gemini Cooperation – has also seen significant growth and nearly doubled its capacity since last August. According to Alphaliner, the progress is primarily due to the two carriers’ joint strategy of multiple regional shuttles in Asia under a pronounced hub and spoke concept.
Singapore-based Pacific International Lines (PIL) tops the list in percentage growth with an increase of a full 116 pct, writes Splash.
The intra-Asia market is today the world’s largest container trading area with more than 60 million teu annually – larger than both Asia–Europe and the transpacific – and the market is expected to grow further in the coming years. Analysts estimate that volumes could reach up to 80 million teu within the next decade, driven by increasing growth in ASEAN, India’s role as a production hub, and China’s development as both an exporter and importer.
-emte
