Two China/Australia container services to start

Two China/Australia container services to start    Evergreen Marine and APL said in separate announcements they will each start China/Australia container services in late May.
   Evergreen will commence its weekly service connecting the East Coast of Australia to Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan May 22.
   Hanjin Shipping and Hapag-Lloyd will also operate the service alongside Evergreen. The new operation will have a rotation of Busan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Busan. The service will utilize five 1,100-TEU vessels.
   APL will start the “Australia-China Express” weekly service connecting China, Taiwan and East Coast ports of Australia May 17. The ACX service will provide direct calls at both Shanghai and Chiwan, providing customers with access to the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas.
   The APL service will have a rotation of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chiwan, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Kaohsiung and Shanghai. It was not clear whether APL will operate the service in cooperation with other carriers.
   “In 2003, China’s containerized exports to Australia grew by 25 percent and Australia to China trade rose year-on-year by almost 20 percent,” APL said.