[070117.EN.BIZ] NYK Chief's New Year's Message Looks to 'K' Line, MOL Merger

JAPAN's NYK Group posted a large loss in 2016 and now plans to integrate its container shipping business and international terminal businesses with two other major companies in Japan to boost competitiveness, president Tadaaki Naito revealed during his New Year's speech in Tokyo.

While Mr Naito did not mention his merger partners by name, it was clear he was referring to his erstwhile Japanese rivals "K" Line and NYK, whose plans to merge were announced in October.

"Preparation for the integration will have a major impact on the entire group under our 'Beat the Crisis' in-house initiative," Mr Naito said.

The liner shipping segment will continue to be the group's core business after the integration in April 2018, while the terminal business is intended to move towards raising the competitiveness of the business in Japan through measures to boost efficiency, he explained.

"The logistics business will become a more strategically important part of our global logistics service to become a core business for the group," said Mr Naito.

As for the air freight transportation business, the group's head would like to explore new business models while focusing on ensuring the safety of air freight transport.

Source : HKSG.