A garment association's request to the EU Commission to impose limits on Chinese garment exports may reduce the amount of shipping volume, some industry insiders said.

But still, shipping operators in China either have plans or have already gone ahead and launch more services linking the nation with European ports this year.

The container volume between Asia and Europe is expected to rise 13 percent this year.

It rose 18 percent last year, according to China Shipping Gazette, an authoritative journal in the domestic shipping industry.

However, some industry insiders say the request by the European garment association to impose limits on Chinese garment exports may have some impact on the route, if the EU Commission were to approve it.

"The garment and textile products account for a big proportion of the freight between China and Europe, so the business would be influenced if Chinese exports to Europe were to be limited," said an industry insider surnamed Li.

But analysts like Wang Lan, who works for the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, said it's premature to worry about the impact on the container business.

"Usually, such cases take a long time to resolve. The EU Commission will decide whether to accept the request and even if it takes the case, there will be a period for them to work out the measures," said Wang. "Therefore, we believe the impact won't emerge immediately."

Despite the request, China Shipping (Group) Co, the country's second-largest shipping operator, launched its second Europe-bound container service yesterday, using nine 4,250-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) ships to link Chinese cities like Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao and Shanghai with European destinations like Rotterdam in Holland and Hamburg in Germany.

Previously, the company operated a Europe-bound service from Shanghai with eight 5,668-TEU container ships.

"The shipping volume on the route has been flourishing since last year and we predict the stable European economy will help maintain the business throughout this year," said Wang Zhide, an official with China Shipping.

The utility usage of container ships sailing from China to Europe has hovered above 90 percent from last year, thanks to the large amount of garments, textile products, toys and furniture exports from China to Europe. But the rate in the opposite direction is about 50 to 60 percent.

Meanwhile, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co, which is the largest shipper on the mainland, also plans to launch its second Europe-bound service during the second half of this year with ships capable of carrying some 5,600 TEUs of containers, according to company sources.

The largest French shipping line CMA CGM will use bigger ships to carry containers on its route linking northern Chinese cities with Europe this year.

(Shanghai Daily February 24, 2004)