Lazard: Container industry touches bottom

Lazard: Container industry touches bottom    Financial analyst Lazard Capital Markets said in a note Friday that for the liner carrier industry, 'it appears the bottom has been reached.'
   The New York-based firm rates the strength of publicly listed ship owners and said containership supply is forecast to grow 6.5 percent from 2010 to 2014, from 8.6 percent forecast in June 2009. But Lazard cautions that the industry still faces a rough road.
   'Still, 11 percent of the global fleet remains idle due to a collapse in demand in 2009, and many of the ships that are employed are so because of 'slow steaming,' which is a near-term and voluntary effective constriction of supply that can be expanded swiftly,' the note said. 'Containership asset values should remain low for some time and we expect the traditional shipping banks to remain on the sidelines in 2010. The container sector remains challenging in the near term, yet the picture, especially over the long term, has brightened.'