CONTAINER SHIPS BOOM AS DRY BULK WANES

CONTAINER SHIPS BOOM AS DRY BULK WANES

Rising demand of manufactured goods is swelling profit for container shippers, boosting the shares of companies such as A.P. Moller-Mearsk A/S and Orient Overseas International Ltd, and encouraging other to sell stock. Adding to the allure is a decline in the fortunes of dry-bulk and tanker operators, which carry grains and oil, as China's appetite for commodities wanes and a glut of new ships hurt charter rates.

"The container sector has shown a remarkable rebound after a difficult 2009 due to the discipline of carriers on the supply side and the revival of trade growth in 2010," said Maria Bertzeletou, an analyst at shipbroker Golden Destiny SA in Greece, home to the world's biggest shipping fleet by capacity.

The container shipping industry, which transport more than $4 trillion of goods each year, or 60 percent of the value of seaborne trade, will grow more than 8 percent in 2011, according to Maersk. Maersk shares have gained 80 percent in two years.

-ManilaBulletin (Mar 9, 2011)