MaerskB the world’s biggest container line, is among carriers raising rates on Asia-U.S. routes as three-month-high consumer confidence and job growth at the quickest pace in five months tempt retailers to stock up ahead of the holiday-shopping rush. By contrast, shipping lines are cutting capacity to Europe.
“Christmas will come to America, but probably not to Europe,” Soeren Skou, chief executive officer of A.P. Moeller- Maersk’s container-shipping arm, said in an interview.
On Asia-Europe routes, Copenhagen-based Maersk and other lines are paring services as economic confidence at a three-year low and record euro-area unemployment damp demand. The slowdown has hit European retailers including Marks & Spencer Group Plc (MKS) and Carrefour SA (CA), while U.S. chains including Macy’s Inc. (M), Target Corp. (TGT) and Victoria’s Secrets’ parent Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) are predicting higher sales.
The decline has prompted the G6 Alliance, whose members include Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. (NOL)’s APL Ltd. and Orient Overseas International Ltd. (316), to halt one of six weekly Asia-Europe services next month. The CKYH alliance will also cut of one of its five Asia-Europe services starting mid-October. Its members include China Cosco and Hanjin Shipping Co.
Shipping lines had idled 216 ships, with a capacity of 467,000 containers, by the end of July, four times more than a year earlier as demand on Asia-Europe routes wanes, according to Alphaliner, a shipping-industry data provider. “Europe is still very uncertain,” said Stanley Shen, a spokesman at Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas. “People are not spending money.”
Read more: Christmas Cargo Boosts U.S. Rates as Europe Slumps: Freight - Bloomberg
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