Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk forecast on Monday that overcapacity would continue to weigh on its key Asia-to-Europe container shipping routes so it could remove tonnage from the market, Reuters reports. Chief Financial Officer Trond Westlie told Reuters the 2011 result for the container shipping division Maersk Line was "acceptable" with margins better than average for the market.
"There will be overcapacity in the market, especially Asia-Europe. That must be dealt with," Westlie said. "We have started to deal with it by reducing capacity."
Maersk Line announced 10 days ago that it would cut capacity on Asia-Europe routes by 9 percent to combat low freight rates, a move that analysts have called a strategy shift for Maersk which earlier tolerated losses.
A.P. Moller-Maersk posted a slightly smaller-than-forecast drop in 2011 profits on Monday, hit by losses in container shipping, and said it expected 2012 to be in the black but weaker again.
"There will be overcapacity in the market, especially Asia-Europe. That must be dealt with," Westlie said. "We have started to deal with it by reducing capacity."
Maersk Line announced 10 days ago that it would cut capacity on Asia-Europe routes by 9 percent to combat low freight rates, a move that analysts have called a strategy shift for Maersk which earlier tolerated losses.
A.P. Moller-Maersk posted a slightly smaller-than-forecast drop in 2011 profits on Monday, hit by losses in container shipping, and said it expected 2012 to be in the black but weaker again.