Maersk analyses Indonesian trading prospects
Jakarta: Maersk has just released a detailed seven-page report on trading in and out of Indonesia. In its Indonesia Trade Report for the first half of 2013, Maersk Line Indonesia cited low commodity prices, weakening of the rupiah, the delayed removal of fuel subsidies and the ensuing increase in the inflation rate as some of the contributors to Indonesia’s current trade deficit which hit $3.31bn in June.
In spite of this, Maersk Line Indonesia is maintaining an optimistic outlook on trade from the archipelago.
“It’s still early days yet, but we believe the shipping industry will continue to remain robust,” said Jakob Friis Sorensen, president director of Maersk Line Indonesia. “In spite of the trade deficit which is resulting from lower values of commodity exports, volumes remain very healthy, particularly on Maersk Line’s key trade corridors from Indonesia to the US, Europe and Africa.”
Maersk’s export volumes of palm oil have increased over the past two years, with a year-on-year increase of 41%, particularly to markets in East and West Africa as well as Sri Lanka. Export volumes of paper products have accelerated over the last three years, with Indonesia becoming one of the largest paper producers in the world.
The shipping industry is seeing bottlenecks in the trucking sector which are causing unnecessary delays to unloading of containers at portside, Maersk noted. The trade report stated there is a growing need to increase the port capacity in Indonesia to cope with the aggressive growth in containerised volumes in recent years.
Source: http://www.seashipnews.com/
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