Yang Ming fleet renewal plan 'on track' despite Q1 profits fall
The early peak season will result in high freight rates for Q2 and Q3, but ...
Photo: © Philippilosian Dreamstime.com
By Alison Koo
Yang Ming chairman Tsai Feng-ming said today the Taiwanese mainline operator was considering expanding to the South American east coast, to mitigate the fallout from increasing US protectionism.
Dr Tsai suggested that the five 15,500 teu ships Yang Ming is now building at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will be deployed to the South American east coast after delivery in April 2026.
It will be the first time Yang Ming assigns vessels to the Latin American east coast, covering ports like Brazil’s Santos and Rio de Janeiro, as well as Buenos Aires in Argentina. The Taiwanese line is active in this market through purchasing slots on other carriers, namely CMA CGM, Cosco, OOCL, Evergreen, and PIL.
Goods shipped to South American east coast ports primarily comprise electronics, pharmaceuticals and other general merchandise from Asia.
Dr Tsai said: “Current Asia-Europe volumes are steady, but transpacific cargo has fallen, and we have observed a transfer of cargo origin from China to South-east Asia. It remains to be seen if this is from transhipment, or a shift in manufacturing activities from China.”
He hinted that the peak season, specifically for the transpacific, may have ended prematurely, adding: “In the first half of the year, US importers rushed to front-load during the moratorium on tariffs on Chinese goods, and now they have to digest the inventory.”
The Yang Ming chairman also mentioned his plan for building 20,000 teu ships, as the shipping line goes back on its traditional conservatism towards larger vessels.
Dr Tsai said: “I will propose to the company’s directors to build 20,000 teu ships that will go to Asia-Europe routes, to meet demand for exports to Europe.”
However, he indicated that Yang Ming was not about to imitate MSC in deploying large ships on Asia-West Africa routes.
He said: “West African ports are not fully developed yet. If we’re to enter this market, we might do so through cargo aggregation.”
Comment on this article