China Shipping and Hanjin Shipping, South Korea’s largest shipping line, said they will soon order new vessels as world trade rebounds from the global recession.
At a conference last week in Guangzhou, Hanjin CEO Kim Young Min said Hanjin may announce a deal for mid-size container ships by as early as the yearend. At the same event Li Shaode, president of China Shipping, said his company will also make an order soon.
Likewise, Evergreen Group is near to ordering 10 ships, part of plans to buy 100 vessels, as trade recovers from a slump last year that caused industry-wide losses.
MB.com.ph reported Minoru Matsuno, president of Value Search Asset Management, a Tokyo-based investment advisory firm, as saying, "The worst is over for Asian shipping lines, so it’s a good time to order vessels. At the same time, the industry needs to ensure it doesn’t repeat the overcapacity mistakes that helped hammer rates last year."
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