The head of the world's largest container shipper, Maersk Line, says the industry remains depressed and is facing increasing pressure on profits in the wake of a disastrous year.
Speaking in New Zealand, Nils Andersen said container shipping lines lost a total of US$20-30bn between them last year.
"The biggest issue last year wasn't the fact we had ships laid up and a decline in global trade, the biggest issue last year was that freight rates went down dramatically," he told the New Zealand Herald.
"They're still not in a range where the lines can make a profit - it's realistic to assume the rates will go up still."
In mid-2009 rates were down by as much as 30 per cent, although prices have been rising gradually since then, and Mr Andersen's company is expecting losses of around US$2bn for 2009.
The US and Western Europe suffered big falls in volume but China and other developing economies like India helped keep global trade moving.
The global recession and plunging commodity prices early last year caused shipping companies to cut services and Maersk Line still has around 20 vessels laid up, from a fleet of 500 container ships.
According to Mr Andersen, the company has used the crisis to review its operations. Slowing ships down to save fuel, cutting staff numbers and a move to more modest office facilities are among the initiatives introduced to combat the slowdown.
"It's still tough, although we're seeing some increased activity in the last couple of months," Mr Andersen said.
"When there is an upswing, which we don't think will be immediately, then hopefully we will be well placed to profit from that."
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