Impact of higher crude oil prices was passed on to the consumers, said Steve Felder, managing director, South Asia of Maersk Line.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Felder said that higher crude oil prices made container shipping business difficult as it is a very high variable cost for the industry.

According to Felder, "Bunker fuel price has increased around 20 percent since the beginning of the year and around 45 percent since similar period last year. So, it has been pretty difficult to go back to our customers and recover from them."

Talking about India, he said, "Country is quite diversified in terms of commodities and in terms of trading partners. So, we are not overly dependent on single market or single block."

Felder said, "Maersk Line has seen very good trade upticks with Mediterranean. The company has also seen very good boost in waste paper imports from Europe that is largely due to China’s restrictions that they have imposed at the beginning of this year. So, overall very healthy picture. The trade grew quite substantially in Q1 versus the same period last year. Seven percent growth on exports and 16 percent growth on imports."

First Published:Jul 27, 2018 7:39 PM IST