A major shipping company says the industry has lost $US3 billion in the Asia-Pacific region alone during the downturn, but New Zealand is holding up well.

Jesper Praestensgaard, chief executive of the Maersk Line’s
Asia-Pacific region, says in many ways shipping is a leading indicator
of how the global economy is faring.

He says the container industry has seen an average annual growth of 10% in the past 30 years.

Mr Praestensgaard says the worst year in recent history was in 1982 when there was 4% growth.

However, he says there has been a dramatic drop in global demand and
this year it is expected that the industry will contract by about 10%.

Mr Praestensgaard says it has now bottomed out and the last couple of months has seen a return to very low level growth.

He says New Zealand has fared relatively well compared to the rest of
the world in terms of volumes on the ships, and the success of New
Zealand exporters has held up quite well.

Source: Radio New Zealand

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