[170112.EN.SEA] Evergreen's Father Chang Fears Bad Times Ahead In Sluggish Global Economy

EVERGREEN's founder chairman Chang Yung-fa predicts the global economy in 2012 will not likely to recover due to week demands of the European and American markets, slow livelihoods consumption and sluggish electronic industry, reports Taiwan's Economic Daily News.

Mr Chang says it will be hard for container carriers to make profits this year. How badly it goes, depends the situation in the second half of 2012, he said.

"We didn't make a profit in 2011, while it is hard for us to get profits either with entering the New Year when the situation is not good and filled with too many ships. We haven't ever seen the European market is so bad, and so is the American market. Despite no profits last year, we still pay two-month year-end bonus for our staff," he says.

Mr Chang thinks the EU may help part of European countries to solve the debt problems, but the demand is hard to warm up in the short term. The US produced fewer goods in the past few years, and turned to source commodities from Japan and mainland China. It is becoming a consumption market with a bad economic situation, too. The change like the US is global and the overall economic environment is not optimistic, Mr Chang added.

"It is hard to say when the situation may warm up, but it certainly can pull up later. Shipping market has been experiencing many ups and downs, so it also has a chance to rebound," Mr Chang said.

Compared with the global situation, the economy environment in Taiwan and mainland China is better than that of the EU and US. Especially the mainland China, it may be the best in the world. China has moved its economy development from costal area into inland area which has more room to explore and construct with abundant development potential, added Mr Chang.

Company vice chairman Lin Shing-san said carrier teamwork will be the new trend. Evergreen has cooperated with CKYH alliance to enhance the Asia to Europe network. "We will strengthen business cooperation with Cosco, CSCL and the CKYH alliance," he added.

Source : HKSG, 09.01.12.