Hit by slow demand due to the global financial crisis, almost all of China's dry container business has ground to a halt, CIMC , the world's largest shipping container maker, said on Monday.
"Our company has warned of the risks as slowing demand is now a universal phenomenon due to the economic environment caused by the global financial tsunami," CIMC said in a statement published in the official China Securities Journal in response to media reports that it had halted dry container production.
The statement re-affirmed that CIMC's business was traditionally slack in the fourth quarter, but added that the company had allowed more staff to take leave this year than in previous years due to slow demand, as reported by Reuters last week. [ID:nSHA27886]
The financial crisis has also forced shippers to cut freight rates, with Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maerskslashing container freight rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast by nearly a quarter.
"Our company has warned of the risks as slowing demand is now a universal phenomenon due to the economic environment caused by the global financial tsunami," CIMC said in a statement published in the official China Securities Journal in response to media reports that it had halted dry container production.
The statement re-affirmed that CIMC's business was traditionally slack in the fourth quarter, but added that the company had allowed more staff to take leave this year than in previous years due to slow demand, as reported by Reuters last week. [ID:nSHA27886]
The financial crisis has also forced shippers to cut freight rates, with Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maerskslashing container freight rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast by nearly a quarter.