Maersk sees wider opportunity in Africa as China trade booms

Maersk Line anticipates that Asia volumes will experience double-digit growth this year in terms of shipments of palm oil, sugar and rice to Africa as demand for food commodities surges. "Africa is very, very strong, especially for commodities," said Thomas Knudsen, according to Newark's Journal of Commerce. "We are seeing more cargo moving in containers pretty much everywhere in Africa - East Africa, South Africa and West Africa." He added that busier container shipping traffic to Africa has helped offset slower business on other trade routes, such as the Asia-Europe trades (See: "Lines begin to pull tonnage off the Asia-Europe trade"), that have come under pressure from massive new capacity and slower economic growth in the west.