The economic downturn in the box shipping industry has ended, said APM Terminals Chief Executive Kim Fejfer, with many firms back to profit two years after the global financial crisis slashed seaborne trade, costing the sector an estimated $15 billion in 2009.
"In terms of our customers and shipping lines, they are growing again and back in profitable territory," Fejfer told reporters at a news conference. "I think it is fair to say the crisis is over. It is behind the shipping industry."
The container industry, a key indicator of world economic growth, was considered in a much healthier state than the oil tanker and dry bulk markets, which were plagued by oversupplies of vessels and limited demand.
Demand for container port handling was expected to increase by 7 percent in 2015 in emerging markets, surpassing the 2 percent increase seen in developed countries.
"The growth (in containers) will be more driven by emerging markets than the mature markets of the United States and Europe. We are seeing that decoupling taking place already," said Martin Christiansen, the head of the company's Asia operations.
Expansion Plans
APM, one of the world's top 4 port operators, has prioritised China, India and Vietnam as the three main countries to expand its business.
"One of the areas that we will be looking more at is potentially growing some of our inland activities through acquisitions more than organic growth," Christiansen said, adding that China's Yangtze River was its top focus.
Targets for acquisitions or joint ventures included trucking and rail service companies through its Container Inland Services unit, which was taken over from its sister company Maersk Line last year.
Christiansen declined to provide a time frame for the potential deals.
APM has forecast its inland services unit would turn profitable in 2011.
Last year, APM Terminals handled 12.3 percent of all cargo going through container shipping ports. It ranks as one of the largest port operators, along with Singapore's PSA, Dubai's DP World and Hutchinson Whampoa's ports arm Hutchinson Port Holdings.
APM is the third-largest unit in the Maersk conglomerate after Maresk Line, the world's largest container shipping company, and the petroleum unit Maersk Oil. (Reuters)
