NEWS\\\ Quality costs, says Maersk


Shipping lines are losing their shirts and shippers must expect to pay more if they are to enjoy quality services in the future, was as gist of the message from Maersk Line’s new boss on 5 March. Chief executive officer Søren Skou, in his first major announcement to the press since his appointment in January, pointed out that Maersk – probably one of the sector’s better financial performers – had generated shareholder value only once in each of the past seven years, in 2010. Average return on investment over that period was only 2% a year – roughly the same as putting your money into government bonds, he said. Unable to fund the new ships and


other massive new investments needed to stay in business, the lines had had to rely on outside cash, “not a healthy situation” as Skou put it. And with bank finance now scarce to non-existent, it was clearly


high time for a rethink of how the industry went about its business, he said. “If lines had bought new ships


only when they could afford them, it would be a much more healthy industry,” he said. But with the days of (relatively)


cheap bank finance at an end, there were signs that the industry is having a rethink. Maersk has been one of the first to throw its hat into the ring, with the decision not to pursue options for a further ten Triple E class containerships. Maersk had also entered an agreement with CMA CGM which would take an estimated 9.5% capacity out of the Asia/ Mediterranean trade. Maersk itself has of course been


busy pushing up its own market share in the past year. Globally, it reached 15.5% of the market in the last quarter of 2011 and its share of the Asia-Europe trade increased


to an all-time high of 19.4% - rather better than the 17.8% it achieved in 2006 just aſter it took over P&ONedlloyd. This year, would be different,


though. “We will focus on profitability and less on market share,” Skou explained. He went


to say that Maersk


would limit itself to an additional 3% more capacity in 2012, but if that failed to have the desired effect or if market was less than expected, there was the scope to reduce capacity by a further 9% by returning chartered tonnage. “In addition, we will slow steam more than we planned to do,” though this would be more noticeable on the Transpacific than the Asia-Europe trades. Maersk would however seek to


defends its 15.5% existing market share, promoting itself as a quality operator with an 87.5% on-time record and the time-guaranteed


Daily Maersk Asia to Europe service concept introduced in the third quarter of 2011. Maersk would wait until the Daily Maersk service had been in place for a full year before deciding whether to extend the concept to other trade lanes. Maersk Line said on 17 February


that it would cut capacity on its Asia-Europe trade by 9% due to an oversupply of container vessels and unsustainably low rates. The move would be facilitated by a vessel sharing agreement with the French container shipping line, CMA-CGM, on its Far East to Mediterranean routes.


23 March that


Maersk Line announced on it was suspending


bookings from North Europe to Asia to clear a backlog of traffic. This had been caused by the cancellation of several westbound sailings during Chinese New Year. Normal service would be resumed in May, it added.


Tilbury terminal expects ERTS soon


The Logistics Terminal’s (TLT) at the Port of Tilbury expects shortly to gain ERTS status and is in line to become a major hub for the Olympics. The company says that it is taking


up over 10,000 sq ft of space per month at the port-centric hub, one of the closest to the Games site. TLT, which is also attracting interest from importers of non-perishable foods and other products, as well as those looking for a convenient place to store their goods ahead of the Olympics, says it has been given verbal approval to operate as an ERTS. TLT adds that it is also attracting


significant interest from both importers and exporters looking to take advantage of the company’s ability to consolidate inward and outward-bound freight to and from locations across the UK. TLT is breathing life back into


Richard Newbold sees boost from Olympics


Issue 2 2012


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NEWS ROUNDUP INTERNATIONAL TRADE & CUSTOMS


The World Trade Organisation has approved a European Union request to temporarily liſt EU duties 75 products from Pakistan to help the country recover from floods in 2010 – a plan originally formulated in November of that year. The waiver applies to 75 products from Pakistan including 20 on which tariff rate quotas would be applied instead of full liberalisation, following concerns raised by other WTO members.


All imports to Argentina require a pre-loading declaration of goods (DJAI - Declaración Jurada Anticipada de Importación) from 1 February, reports shipping line CSAV. Information required includes importer ID, FOB value and currency, type of commodity and volume, origin of the goods and place of loading. The government will confirm or deny acceptance of the goods or request more information within ten days. More information is available at: www. AFIP.gob.ar


the 200,000 sq ft warehouse that originally built to handle paper products for Belgian-based Westerlund although since then it has been used as temporary storage for a variety of products including imported Hyundai cars. Richard Newbold, Partner of


The Logistics Terminal, comments: “Timing could not be more apt – this warehouse has sat redundant for some time. Yet the site, which is situated at the only London port, could not be more suitable for providing a state-of-the-art worldwide import and export


logistics planning service, whilst enabling cargo owners to store their goods under bond.” He added: “With the onset of


the Olympics, we have definitely seen an increase in the number of businesses requiring short-term rental of storage space.”


The World Customs Organization and the US National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center seized tens of thousands of counterfeit and pirated goods at international mail facilities and express courier depots in 43 countries during Operation Global Hoax II in November last year. More than 30 000 parcels were detained and over 150,000 counterfeit or pirated items were seized by Customs administrations. WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya described the quantity and variety of counterfeit goods being traded across as “staggering and worrisome”. The WCO added that it would continue its ongoing dialogue with the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on the misuse of the international postal system by counterfeiting gangs.


15 the perfect complement to FBJ


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