News / Good news for carriers at last: Asia-Europe freight rates will rise as retailers re-stock, says Maersk

© Vladimir Serebryanskiy

Despite the Asia-Europe trade experiencing one of the worst starts to a year, in terms of both volumes and freight rates, since the financial crisis, there could be cause for optimism for carriers.

Speaking at the TOC Container Supply Chain conference, which began this morning in Singapore, Maersk Line’s Asia chief executive, Robbert van Trooijen, said there was growing evidence that recent declines on the trade were set to reverse.

Last year, container volumes from Asia to Europe fell 4%, while the first ...