Maritime Shipping Market Brightened: NYK Line
Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) said that conditions in the maritime shipping market were positive overall during the nine-month period of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.
In the container shipping market, an upswing in spot freight rates stalled somewhat as the total supply of tonnage remained at similarly high levels as the previous year. Nevertheless, shipping traffic was brisk on the back of robust demand for container shipments.
In the dry bulk shipping market, although excess tonnage still exists, market conditions improved owing to steady shipping traffic and the increased imports of iron ore to China.
Among the Group’s non-shipping businesses, the Logistics segment faced a sluggish market due to persistently high cost prices, while the Air Cargo Transportation segment benefited from busy shipping traffic overall.
In the container shipping market, while shipping traffic was brisk along transpacific and European routes, the upswing in spot freight rates largely came to a standstill due to the impact of growing shipping capacity, caused by the production of new ultra-large container ships.
In the automobile transport market, the volume of automobile shipments to resource-rich countries in particular slowed down amid low prices of crude oil and other resources, but the demand for automobile shipments to North America, Europe and Asia were robust, and the total number of new vehicles it shipped by sea increased compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year.
In the automobile logistics business, established operations performed solidly overall, especially automobile logistics centers in China, India and Europe.
Taken altogether, the Bulk Shipping segment posted an increase in revenues and a profit compared with a loss in the nine-month period of the previous fiscal year.
