Biggest Japanese shippers to ally

Container operations to merge; 3 project fiscal year losses

A Nippon Yusen KK container ship is moored at the shipping terminal in Tokyo on Monday. Nippon is merging its container operations with two other Japanese shipping companies to create one of the world’s largest shippers.
A Nippon Yusen KK container ship is moored at the shipping terminal in Tokyo on Monday. Nippon is merging its container operations with two other Japanese shipping companies to create one of the world’s largest shippers.

Japan's three biggest shippers have agreed to combine their container operations to create the world's sixth-largest box carrier, as the industry steps up consolidation this year amid global turmoil in the sea-cargo business.

Nippon Yusen KK, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., which are predicting operating losses this year, will create a company that will control 7 percent of the world container-shipping trade, according to a joint statement in Tokyo on Monday. The combination will need to be approved by regulators in the European Union, U.S., China and Japan, among others.

The global container industry has been in turmoil since the 2008 financial crisis. South Korea's biggest line, Hanjin Shipping Co., filed for bankruptcy protection in August while others like A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, the world's biggest, have restructured to cut costs even as rates to move shoes and televisions stay depressed.

"It feels more of a merger for survival," said Mikey Hsia, a trader at Sunrise Brokers LLP in Hong Kong. "I see it as a reaction to Hanjin Shipping. The impact is that there won't be any domestic competition. Now, the companies have to compete from a global perspective."

Nippon Yusen shares surged 6.4 percent in Tokyo on Monday, the biggest gain in almost two months. Mitsui O.S.K. jumped 5.6 percent, the most since Sept. 5. Kawasaki Kisen ended the day 0.4 percent higher after earlier climbing as much as 10 percent.

The combined entity will be formed by July 1. It's expected to have about $19 billion in sales and will be Asia's second-biggest box carrier, after China Cosco Shipping Corp. The merged company expects to start operations by April 2018 and will have 256 vessels, according to the statement. Nippon Yusen will own 38 percent of the merged entity while Kawasaki Kisen and Mitsui O.S.K. will each hold 31 percent, according to the statement.

"With joint shipping and alliances, the scale of our operations and business styles, we have many things in common," the shipping lines said. "We thought it would be easier to utilize each others' strengths this way."

Nippon Yusen, Mitsui O.S.K. and Kawasaki Kisen will invest a total of $2.9 billion in the venture.

The companies started talks on the merger of the container lines earlier this year and will start discussions with major shareholders, said Eizo Murakami, president of Kawasaki Kisen. There won't be any change to the bulk-cargo moving business of the three shipping companies. Nippon Yusen got 30.5 percent of its revenue last year from the liner business. That number was 49.4 percent for Kawasaki Kisen and 42 percent for Mitsui O.S.K., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"The way the industry is going, combining their operations is a good thing," said Rahul Kapoor, a director at Drewry Financial Research Services Ltd. in Singapore. "China has combined its two shipping lines. The Japanese need to combine to survive in this environment."

All three Japanese companies on Monday forecast operating losses for this fiscal year. Nippon Yusen expects a loss of $243 million, Kawasaki Kisen $419 million and Mitsui O.S.K. $143 million.

Helped by cheap loans, container lines worldwide have hung on even as freight rates to move goods have remained depressed. While Maersk has embarked on a restructuring program, companies such as Hapag-Lloyd AG and France's CMA CGM SA have bought out smaller rivals to consolidate the industry.

The spot price to move a 20-foot container to Europe from Asia was $958 at the end of last week, down 22 percent from $1,232 at the start of this year, according to Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

South Korea's government said Monday that it plans to spend $9.6 billion by 2020 to help the local shipping and shipbuilding industries.

Information for this article was contributed by Kyunghee Park and Anna Kitanaka of Bloomberg News.

Business on 11/01/2016

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