A representative of Maersk Line in South Asia said he sees India's container traffic growing for years, but that the slowing of container traffic to North America has directly affected services calling in India.
"I strongly feel that the Indian market will continue to grow and, barring unforeseen catastrophe, the present growth trend looks established," Julian Bevis, senior director for South Asia, told the Hindu in an interview published today. "We'll introduce capacity and services depending on how the market grows. But then worldwide there are not many ports left where Maersk Line does not offer services."
Bevis said Maersk's market share is about 10 percent in the South Asia region, less than the carrier's global market share.
"I've watched with admiration the growth of the Indian economy,"he said. "Not only the GDP growth, which is certainly commendable, but also growth on the external front. India's share in global trade now stands at 1.5-1.6 percent, up from 0.5-0.6 percent a few years ago. This is really impressive."
But he said the slowing of growth in North American container trades has hit the highly competitive Indian market.
The competition is pretty intense,"Bevis said. "In economic terms, it can be said that the container market in the region operates in perfect competition, the freight movement being driven by the free interplay of market forces, i.e. demand and supply. It suits us fine because it encourages efficiency and benefits trade."
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