Niche Asian carrier SeaLead Shipping is consolidating its Indian network, driven by sustained trade growth expectations. The Singapore-based liner is set to commence an independent direct container service between Australia and India.
The routing, known as ASIA, will have stops at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Port Kelang (West Port), Karachi, Mundra, Nhava Sheva, and Port Kelang (West Port).
The new connection will begin with the sailing of the Ren Jian 26 from Port Kelang on 20 March.
SeaLead will initially deploy two 4,250 TEU ships on this route, with further deployments scheduled for the third and fourth quarters of 2023.
The move comes shortly after SeaLead joined a consortium of OOCL and TS Lines on a string connecting India, the UAE and East Africa.
The declared port rotation for the joint service is Nhava Sheva (JNPT), Mundra, Jebel Ali, Khalifa, Mombasa, Dar es Salam, and Nhava Sheva.
“Trade between India, the UAE and East Africa has been growing strongly and our new service will add further options for our customers,” SeaLead said, announcing its cooperation.
It further said, “Providing this fast and direct service will shorten transit times and allow for faster connections.”
The carrier went on to explain, “India and the UAE are also benefiting from robust domestic economies, while India is one of the largest trade partners with East Africa (and Africa as a whole) having signed trade treaties with multiple African nations.”
The service consolidation highlights growing carrier interest in the Indian market, boosted by sourcing shifts away from China and a flurry of government-to-government free trade agreements (FTAs). New Delhi recently concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia to significantly raise bilateral trade volumes.
Indian industry groups have also struck an upbeat tone about the FTA potential.
According to Sudhir Sekhri, vice chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), “Australia is the largest importer of garments in the Southern Hemisphere. While China’s share of import of apparel into Australia is more than 70%, India’s share in imports is less than 5%.”
Sekhri also noted, “With the India-Australia ECTA [economic co-operation and trade agreement] getting operationalized, India will have a slight duty advantage over Vietnam and Indonesia for imports in the Australian market”.
According to him, “India’s RMG [ready-made garment] exports to Australia have seen an average increase of 11.84% over the last five years, which is purely on account of China-plus-one strategy adopted by most countries. Going by this growth trend and with the ECTA coming into play, AEPC believes that India’s RMG exports to Australia would grow three times by 2025.” Sensing long-term growth opportunities, other leading carriers have also expanded Indian connections. For example, Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), independently, and Cosco Shipping, in partnership with its subsidiary OOCL, recently introduced new services on the India-US trades.
