Seafreight slowdown in Asia hits Schenker

<p>Freight forwarder DB Schenker Logistics, part of German logistics group Deutsche Bahn, has suffered a slowdown in seafreight volumes due to weaker Asian traffic in the first half of the year.</p> <p>&#8220Against the background of global economic downturn, volume growth in seafreight has diminished,&#8221 Deutsche Bahn’s finance chief, Diethelm Sack, said. </p> <p>&#8220This applies especially to exports from Asia, which are dominating the global sea freight market.&#8221</p> <p>The group was not prepared to give figures for the growth rate or the volumes transported in seafreight.</p> <p>Overall, turnover of Schenker, including land and airfreight, rose by 4.7% to E7.3bn (US$10.7bn), compared with the corresponding period of 2007. The company’s operating profit levelled off at E178m.</p> <p>On its transpacific routes between Asia and North America, Schenker reported no growth at all. </p> <p>Traffic from Asia to Europe also showed a remarkable slowdown. Competition for clients between owners and forwarders had sharpened, which had led to increased pressure on prices.</p> <p>North America to Asia, on the other hand, developed well due to the weak US dollar. Schenker already saw shortages of tonnage on these routes in the first half of the year.</p> <p>Routes out of Europe suffered from overcapacity. Liner companies and owners experienced losses on these trades and were not prepared to deploy additional vessels, which were needed on the way back, Schenker said.</p> <p>However, seafreight could profit from surging kerosene costs, which air carriers handed on to their customers with high fuel surcharges. More customers were already shifting from air to sea transport.</p> <p>Turnover was positively affected by the consolidation of land freight forwarder Spain-Tir and Schenker Russija, which were integrated for the first time.</p> <p>Schenker is part of DB Mobility Logistics, for which DB plans a part-floatation this year. For that, Deutsche Bahn has restructured its logistics division. Now, Schenker runs under the umbrella DB Schenker Logistics.</p> <p>The rail cargo activities of the group, such as Railion, are combined in the newly established DB Schenker Rail.</p> <p>The two divisions plus passenger traffic form DB Mobility Logistics, of which 24.9% will be listed.</p> <p>&#8220We are ready for listing,&#8221 Deutsche Bahn chief executive officer Hartmut Mehdorn said.</p> <br />