COSCO’s chairman Ma Zehua has played down talks of a global shipping market recovery within the next two years as the supply-demand imbalance seems unlikely to improve. Ma Zehua told Reuters that the sector's slump will continue since new vessels ordered before the 2008 financial crisis have flooded the market, bringing rates down.
Ma Zehua told Reuters: “I don’t think the market will recover within the next two years. Everyone will compete on costs because improving income is very difficult; if you want to increase the freight rate it’s tough, it’s not possible, the only way is to control costs.”
Ma Zehua said COSCO is now focusing on securing long-term customers and expanding in emerging markets such as South America and the Middle East. Ma Zehua also said Cosco will soon announce partnerships with other large Chinese shipping firms but he declined to provide any further details. Ma Zehua, it would be tough for the Chinese shipping giant to avoid a loss in 2014.
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