Maersk Bullish on India
BRICS bloc export-import (exim) containerised trade with the world registered a growth of 5.8 per cent in the first half of 2016 as against de-growth of 2.2 per cent in the same period last year was "led by India", reports Times of India quoting Maersk Line sources.
Volumes should improve as GDP for BRICS is expected to increase to 5.7 per cent in 2017, an improvement over the previous forecast of 5.3 per cent.
"China is expected to grow more than 6 per cent in 2017, India at 8 per cent, Brazil at more than 0.5 pr cent and Russia at above 1 per cent," it said in a release here.
Franck Dedenis, MD, India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh Cluster, Maersk Line, said: "India exim trade with BRICS nations has been consistently growing at 4 per cent since 2012."
Meanwhile, the world's largest container shipping company, which previously never looked at Alang in Gujarat to recycle its ships, now has two of its vessels being take apart at a yard there with plans to have more scrapped there.
According to a report in the Livemint, Maersk Line's decision was a major shot in the arm for the beleaguered ship-breaking yards in Alang, often in the limelight for unsafe practices and working conditions.