Maersk Line has yet to see Asia-Europe pick-up: CEO

COPENHAGEN (Reuters): Maersk Line, the container shipping arm of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, said the usual seasonal pick-up in bookings at this time of year has not been seen, leading the company to postpone an Asia-Europe surcharge.

Daily shipping paper Lloyd’s List on Friday said Maersk Line has postponed a peak-season surcharge on key routes between Asia and Europe in response to a significant softening of market conditions.

“We adjust the prices all the time according to the market. With regard to the peak season surcharges, we adjust them once we see the start of a rise in bookings,” Maersk Line Chief Executive Soren Skou told Reuters.

The peak season surcharges to be imposed in June normally cover the rise in volumes in the coming months as European retailers prepare for the Christmas season.

For 2012, the company would focus on getting higher freight rates through and maintaining its market share, as opposed to growing, Skou said.

Separately A.P. Moller-Maersk also said it would cut about 400 jobs as part of a restructuring of its struggling container shipping division Maersk Line.

The group said in a statement that a key objective of the reorganisation was faster decision making and that about 250 of the job cuts would be at its Copenhagen headquarters.

The shipping industry has been hit hard during the global economic downturn as weak demand and excess capacity knocked freight rates to loss-making levels.

Maersk said last month it expected 2012 results “slightly lower” than in 2011, a modest improvement on previous guidance, but below analysts’ hopes.