Growth in Shipping to Africa, United States, Heartens Maersk

Maersk Line Indonesia, the local unit of a Copenhagen-based shipping company, sees signs of growing exports to the United States and Africa, providing hope Indonesia’s trade deficit will soon fall.
Jakob Friis Sorensen, president director of Maersk Line Indonesia, told reporters on Wednesday that the company’s export shipping was improving in the second half of this year after a period of no growth.
Sorensen said he expected export volumes to pick up in the third quarter, which is traditionally peak season as US and Europe retailers stock up ahead of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.
His statement came amid concerns over Indonesia’s trade deficit, which stood at $3.31 billion at the end of June, the most recent figure available, widening from $2.53 billion a month earlier.
Maersk’s freight volume stood at about 60,000 forty-foot-equivalent units in the first half of this year, matching the same period in 2012.
“I am quite hopeful that we will see a little bit of improvement in this last year’s peak over last year, but it wouldn’t be much, about 2 percent to 3 percent,” he said.
“Shipping to the US is going stronger. Export of furniture from Indonesia to US is picking up as people start to buy houses there.”
In the United States, June’s house price index increased by 0.7 percent from May, more than expected. In August, the US consumer confidence index also rose more than expected.
In Indonesia, first-half non-oil and gas exports to the US reached $7.54 billion, up from $7.45 billion in the same period in 2012, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data. Some 10 percent of Indonesia’s exports go to the United States.
The weaker rupiah relative to the dollar has contributed to increased demand for Indonesian goods in the United States.
The rupiah has weakened by 13 percent so far this year as the current account deficit widened to 4.4 percent of gross domestic product in the second quarter, from 2.4 percent in first quarter.
Indonesia’s exports to east and west Africa, up 41 percent year on year from a low base, included cooking oil and paper.
Sorensen said infrastructure is still the biggest concern for Indonesia’s shipping industry, with long waits in ports and shallow drafts in some ports hurting the efficiency of companies including Maersk.
Jakarta’s overburdened container port and Tanjung Priok is in the early stages of a major expansion.
Source: The Jakarta Globe