Container shipping industry buoyed by rising Asia-Europe transport fees

By Stephanie Chao, The China Post
chinapost
April 30, 2015, 12:00 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- May 1 marks a grand day for the container shipping industry, as the transportation prices for each 20-foot equivalent unit will go up from US$700 to US$1,300 in the Asia-Europe shipping line, according to reports yesterday. Evergreen Marine Corp. (長榮) and YangMing Marine Transport (陽明) are the major benefactors in this wave of price increases.
The Asia-Europe shipping route prices slid in March, and once the industry realized it was not performing well, companies cut down their shipping schedules and increased the cargo capacity of each transport.
The industry saw the beginnings of a positive shift for two weeks in April. The next recent two weeks will bring a continuous 10 percent growth with Europe implementing quantitative easing and a recent rise in consumer spending.
Businesses are confident that money will come rolling in this year as long as the European shipping line prices rise, along with a positive performance from the U.S and near-sea shipping line.

On the other hand, even though oil prices are rising, it is still only at US$314 per ton, a 25 percent slide from the previous quarter, which benefits both Evergreen Marine and YangMing as long as the prices do not rise past US$80.
EVA Airways
EVA Airways' (長榮航空) board of directors announced yesterday that it will be paying US$99 million to settle charges from the U.S. over alleged violations of United States antitrust law.
The U.S government had begun an investigation in 2006 on 28 airlines' fuel surcharges between 2000 and 2006. Charges were brought to court in 2007 by the U.S government, which then sued the 28 airlines.
The company had already included US$80 million in last year's annual report, while the remaining US$19 million will be listed in this year's first-quarter reports, which totals around NT$580 million, with a NT$0.15 impact on its earnings per share.
EVA Airways is positive about the company's earnings this year as it had paid off the problematic lawsuit. Even though the company's earnings were affected, it is still possible for EVA Airways to see a surplus gain because of low oil prices in the first quarter.