New Asia-Latin America ocean cargo service reflects market shift

Evergreen Line, COSCO Container Lines (COSCON), Pacific International Lines (PIL) and Wan Hai Lines (WHL) will jointly launch a new service linking the Far East and the West Coast of South America (WCSA).

This announcement coincides with news of record growth in both China and Latin America. According to the World Shipping Council, the top 20 container ports are within China, and all are growing exponentially.

This new weekly service, commencing from Kaohsiung on 30 April, is in response to the booming Asia - WCSA market. This 70-day round trip service will operate with 10 ships of approximately 3,000 TEU. Evergreen Line will contribute four vessels, while COSCON, PIL and WHL will each deploy two vessels. The port rotation is:

Kaohsiung - Yantian - Hong Kong - Ningbo - Shanghai - Manzanillo (Mexico) - Buenaventura (Columbia) - Callao (Peru) - Iquique (Chile) - San Antonio (Chile) - Callao (Peru) - Manzanillo (Mexico) - Kaohsiung.

Hong Kong and other Chinese ports posted throughput increases of 17.9 percent to 169 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to increase their world market share to 30.1 percent in 2010 from 29.3 percent in the previous year, said spokesmen at the World Shipping Council.

Furthermore, South America was the second fastest growing region with its ports increasing container traffic 17.6 percent in 2010.

Analysts at Alphaliner, a Paris-based consultancy, noted that the surge in this trade lane follows a record year-on-year increase of 14.5 percent over 2009, when the first annual drop in the history of containerization shrunk overall port traffic 8.9 percent.

Richard Thompson, executive vice president, global supply chain practice for Jones Lang LaSalle in Chicago, said in an interview that growth in this trade lane is a given:

“The Panama Canal Expansion will be transformational,” he said, “benefitting both Asia, South America, and the entire Caribbean Basin.”

For related articles click here.