Intermodal Show of this year was opened in Hamburg on Nov. 5 till 7th. From Narita, arrival at Hamburg transiting at Copenhagen. The layout of 2/4/2 seat of Airbus 350 of Scandinavian Airlines is no problem but the chair size was uncomfortable. I felt the anteroposterior width to be considerably small. Flight hours are approximately 11 hours. Two times of meals. Both the going and the return were full. As for the cabin attendant, many considerably experienced women were working there. It is a tendency to be seen in the airplane company of Europe origin. The drink is charged except the time of a meal. I don’t drink alcoholic beverage so I am always wondering why a canned beer, bottled wine are offered free of charge at the time of a meal. it doesn’t make sense to me. For an airplane company, their time, the energy that an attendant is involved in serving that are considerably hard work and cost to them. I think that it will tremendously high cost if we consider the number, weight of cargo to load. It is just a big improvement on their income and expenditure to an airline company if all alcohol drink would be charged? I want you to hear it as the human soliloquy that is not a drinker.
Our company, EFI sent 7 people including me participated in Intermodal. I heard surprising voices from persons encountering about our big group of the participation staff. It may be all right with only me or 2~3 staff but I think that it is a shortcut to have our staff understand better and quickly our work by participating in the international event related to container.
I think I want our staff to participate in both Intermodal of Asia and Europe because of different tastes. It is difficult to have our staff understand significance of our work if I could illustrate by several hundred times and words. Seeing is believing. Atmosphere of the exhibition hall, partners of our business, their personality, contents of the conversation, encounter with a new business partner etc. I keenly realize the importance if I watch a change, the activity of our staff after they come back to Japan. At Rotterdam Intermodal of the last year 5 staff participated. Shanghai Intermodal of this year was 6 staff.
The economy of Europe cannot deny influence under the influence of a U.S. and China trade war, too. European Union (EU) revised economic growth downward on November 7.
Forcast of Economic Growth in Euro.zone (%)
|
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Euro Zone |
1.1 (1.2) |
1.2 (1.4) |
1.2 |
|
Germany |
0.4 (0.5) |
1.0 (1.4) |
1.0 |
|
France |
1.3 (1.3) |
1.3 (1.4) |
1.2 |
|
Italy |
0.1 (0.1) |
0.4 (0.7) |
0.7 |
Remark：1)Projections of Real Economic Growth Rate
2)The number in the parenthesis is a prediction as of July
The US Department of Labor announced on Nov. 1st that the employment statistics which excludes the number of the employees of the non-agriculture section shows 128,000 increase compared with the month before. 3.6% of unemployment rate (0.1% decrease compared with the month before). The mean hourly wage is $28.18 (3.0% increase compared with the month before, which stands a 3.0% stand for 15 consecutive months so it shows hardness of the employment.
On the other hand, the US side denied but China announced that the US and China agreed duty abolition progressively on Nov. 7th. In response that, yuan went up and restored to $1.00 = 6 yuan level. Under the present conditions of the money surplus age and a valuable investment opportunity decreased to the surplus funds in the world moves to stocks. It is for IT stock that is represented by “GAFA”. The 2019 net income of GAFA4 companies is 117,100 million dollars in total (approximately 13 trillion yen).
It is like composition that surplus funds of $10 trillion (1,100 trillion yen) which all companies stored up to 2018 as internal reserves up and as well as surplus money of family budgets is to leave for the stock in the world when U.S. and China war calms. International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Nov. 7 that the debt of the world public section and private section is $188 trillion (approximately 20 quadrillion yen) in total. It is approximately 2.3 times of the world gross domestic product (GDP). Money is to easily loan due to low interest rate which is situated in the conditions of the debt expansion now.
The new container price in China is $1,680 per 20f at the end of Oct. It is $50 per 20f, 3% of rises in price than last month. The number of stock of new containers is 1,017,595 TEU (Dry: 957,265 TEU, Reefer: 60,330 TEU). It decreases by 2.2% in total and Dry is 1.6% decrease and Reefer is 10% decrease.
According to Drewry Maritime Research of Shipping Guide, the container traffic of the world harbor of 2019 is revised downward for world economic growth slowdown from 3% by 2.6%. A container of 1 million TEU stays at container depot of China.
The new container price declines 5.5% of Dry container in the third-quarter. On the other hand, Reefer price remains in 3% of falls and stable. As a result, the container lease charges for Dry declines 26% of year-to-year basis. Container makers are considered to reduce container production until the end of this year by approximately 36% due to a surplus and the price fall of new production.
The breeding head count of the pig largely decreases by a livestock epidemic in China, outbreak of “the swine fever in Africa”. Therefore import increases rapidly with pork such as the U.S. domestic production. The supply of the Reefer container does not catch up with it so shipping companies and lease companies increase the ordering of the Reefer containers, too.
Business results of Ocean Network Express (ONE) are favorable. The settlement of accounts is the black of 126 million dollars after taxes in the first half (from April to September) in 2019. They were concerned about global economic slowdown in the second half year and revised it downward with the black of $60 million in full business year. Improvement of their customer service backup and the review of the freight contract and the increase of the further cost cut effect have been advancing.
I participated in Yokohama Maritime Forum 2019 (YMF) held from Oct. 21 to 25 in commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the Port of Yokohama as Mr. Morooka, President of Yokohama Kawasaki International Port Corp. (YKIP) kindly invited me to attend it. The thing which attracted my interest among a lecture and a panel discussion was the panel discussion of “the promotion of the woman advance in a harbor, the marine transportation industry”.
It was very impressed to see two Japanese ladies such as Ms. Akiko Yoshida of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Ms. Sakura Kuma, the corporate executive officer of YKIP enjoying in their energetic discussion together with several foreign ladies.
Japanese ladies are super and we could not neglect them at all. I am convinced that the social advance of the Japanese woman would contribute to Japan to change our future to a great extent as the theme indicates. In addition, it is sure that the future of the harbor, shipping circle of Japan will become bright if woman would play more active part in this world.