NYK to continue with asset-light focus

   NYK Group President Yasumi Kudo this week vowed to continue the company’s push to become lighter on assets by eschewing vessel orders.
   “With regard to our global logistics business, since stagnant demand in the West and oversupply of mega-containerships are predicted, our ordering of new containerships should be suspended for a while, and a light-asset business model should be adopted whereby vessels and space would be leased as needed, thereby minimizing downside risks and sustaining business,” Kudo said in his annual New Year’s Address. “Simultaneously, we should capture opportunities in the rapid growth of the general freight logistics market in Asia, through the freight forwarder business, a prime example of light-asset business.”
   Kudo said that he did not expect a recovery in 2012 such as that seen in 2010.
   “The slump in the two major markets of Europe and America is evident in container lifting from Asia,” he said. “Although the final figures have not yet been published, volume in the transpacific trade grew only until the summer and contracted afterwards. It seems the annual volume for 2011 has stayed at the same level as 2010. In the Asia-Europe trade, sound growth has turned to a sudden fall after the summer and the year ended only a few percentage points above the previous year.”