Maersk chief confident about Australian market

In an exclusive interview with Lloyd’s List DCN as part of a whirlwind visit to Sydney yesterday, Mr Andersen signalled the group’s unwavering confidence in the Australian market for both containers and its offshore business.

Mr Andersen said Maersk’s "very big commitment" to Australia stemmed from the immense promise the region was showing and its proximity to the growth markets of Asia, particularly China.

Asked if further consideration had been given to consolidation in Asia, Mr Andersen said that, while its resources were continually building up in the region, there were no plans to restructure its management of Australia and New Zealand.

"It’s a very good and clear structure to have the markets with a strong management team locally and then you need regional and global coordination – we’re trying not to make too many in-between layers," Mr Andersen said.

"There are absolutely no plans to go in and consolidate the business in Australia and New Zealand.

"You need to be where the customers are – you can’t be remote."

However, he did not comment further on New Zealand exporter fears that shipping lines such as Maersk would consider transhipping volumes through Australian ports instead of direct calls.

Ports of Auckland chief Jens Madsen last year warned that New Zealand was in danger of losing the direct services if ports there were left behind on infrastructure investment (see report).

Globally, Mr Andersen said 2009 had proven a "really tough" year for container shipping, which had seen a fall of about 13% in Maersk’s container volumes and rate falls of about 30%.

He did not see an immediate trade recovery, though he maintained that Maersk was in a far stronger position than many of its competitors.

"We’ve come through the crisis in a pretty good way but I don’t think it’s over yet," Mr Andersen said.

"Last month’s shipping was very positive but we’re not really seeing a big pick-up in the trade in the consumer uptake in the US and Western Europe.

"We do think we will see some growth in 2010 – it would be against a very weak backdrop."

While container volumes in Australia were expected to return to 2008 levels this year, "elsewhere in the world, the drop has been a lot steeper and so the rebound will be slower", he said.

"We doubt it will be back on 2008 figures [this year].

"In the Australian market, because the drop was not too deep last year, the economy is doing better.

"The proximity to China and the looming Asian market is conducive to that."

Full interview in Lloyd’s List DCN’s print edition on February 25.