For New Year holidays of this year, I was blessed with fine weather on the first three days of a New Year and was able to greet comfortable New Year holidays for a long time. In the early morning of New Year’s Day, I went to the Shinto shrine near my house as usual for a New Year’s visit to a Shinto shrine. There was already a long line of visitors. I put a money offering and a bow of 2 times and a clap of 2 times and a bow of one time. I prayed for prosperity of our company and the world peace. It was time freed from usual busy daily life. It was felt time really advanced slowly on that day. On the other hand, on the first three days of a New Year, I had three meals of New Year dishes. I got dressed in new clothes for New Year holidays and smacked my lips over a dish of three steps of stacks for New Year holidays and confirmed that I am a Japanese. However, I wanted to eat boiled rice in tea or Japanese noodles on the fourth day. Human being is quite selfish.
On the other hand, the majority of people stops working in Japan at this time so some sense of guilt as a workaholic becomes thin for forgetting work. I am glad that I feel myself pleased with a feeling released from work to do. However, that time is an instant, too. It would be sad that I feel to be chased by something and feel uneasy when I do nothing. I brace myself as always to make up my resolution for the New Year in conformity with the spirit that New Year’s Day is the day to make our plans for the year and I find myself newly to be a workaholic again.
5 major shipping companies disappeared from the market in the past one year, and one is bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping. It is unbearable to watch the figure that a big shipping line of 7th ranking in the world collapses overnight as a member of the marine business. I remember the face of the many excellent youths who worked lively for Hanjin Shipping. Why didn’t they get them lose their dream? Could we easily clear it up that it is just fate? I am very sorry to see such excellent staff mandatorily to leave their job.
The world shipping company will be is gathered by seven giant shipping companies after the establishment of a new company by the Japanese 3 lines in the midst of this year.
| Ranking | Shipping Lines | Market share | Fleet Scale |
| 1 | MAERSK + Hamburg Sud | 21% | 3,651,000 TEU |
| 2 | MSC | 14% | 2,680,000 TEU |
| 3 | CMA-CGM+APL | 11% | 2,172,000 TEU |
| 4 | COSCO＋CSCL | 8% | 1,555,000 TEU |
| 5 | Hapag-Lloyd+UASC | 7% | 1,471,000 TEU |
| 6 | NYK+MOL+K Line | 7% | 1,382,000 TEU |
| 7 | Evergreen | 5% | 983,000 TEU |
However, none of the shipping lines mentioned above may always survive and they may continue to be involved in M&A.
The number of the slot capacity of the waiting containerships as of the end of 2016 is 1,420,000 TEU and in 2017 the new ships of 1,700,000 TEU come out. Because it is thought that the issue of this surplus slot capacity of 2017 becomes a hindrance to the raise of the freight rate, it seems to be that the year of 2017 would be the thorny age in the liner shipping lines. However, the export from China seems to be brisk even in December and it continues from the middle of November. The shipping lines seem to have had a hard time to bring the empty containers back from surplus places. As a result, they cannot but depend on the leasing companies. The depot stock of leasing companies in China is getting in short. The condition of the master lease would be improved favorably to some extent for leasing companies as a seller’s market. Therefore the leasing companies try to shift their Asian surplus stock into China by some means or other. The recovery of containers from Hanjin Shipping seems to finish by about half. It will take a great deal of time and recovery cost as their inventory has been maldistributed in all parts of the world.
The present favorable condition of the export from China has been contributed very much by export rush before the lunar New Year to begin on January 28. The migration of a total of 3 billion people is anticipated for about 40 days of lunar New Year period in China. This time is important for 200 million migrant workers to spend in home town, especially from the farm village part.
The current container production price is $ 2,100 per 20f (solvent system paint), $ 2,250 per 20f (water-based paint) and the factory stock in China is slightly below 500,000 TEU. Because depot stock of leasing company disappeared, the shipping lines had to secure the new containers from the leasing companies before the lunar New Year. On the other hand, they could not use the solvent system paint in the whole land of China from April of this year. (Only the water-based paint has already been used in Guangzhou from July of the last year). Therefore, the shipping lines as well as leasing companies had to rush to order the containers of solvent system paint before the price increase.
Japanese economic power has been criticized but I believe that there is still room for the improvement. The productivity of the service industry of Japan is said to be half of the United States. According to a foreigner, numerousness of the staff of the service station, the existence of the elevator girl of the department store seems to deserve surprise. However, this is Japanese service mind, an outcome of the hospitality and is an example of the differentiation with others. I want to challenge to create the corporate identity with Japanese-style mind and the harmony of an innovative idea there.