Looking Out for Fall-out from Market Meltdown

by K. K. Chadha, Hong Kong

Shipowners around the world should be looking out for the fall-out, if any, from the recent meltdown of currency and stock markets in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, which left most regional currencies weaker but made economies more competitive.

“The good news is that Southeast Asia has rediscovered its competitiveness,” said Niels Kim Balling, a spokesman for Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line. “It [the meltdown] should be good for the region in the longer-term,” he said.

The currencies of Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea are much weaker now than three months ago. He said the regional economic situation was a bit chaotic but would not affect container volumes on a global scale because Southeast Asian economies, as well as those of Taiwan and South Korea, were still export-driven, and demand for their products in the OECD countries as a whole remained strong.

This is only an excerpt of Looking Out for Fall-out from Market Meltdown

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