This week, the world’s biggest container ship begins its maiden voyage from Asia to the US, after picking up cargo in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. But the appearance of the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin — 20 stories high and longer than the Empire State Building is tall — highlights one of the failings of a region heavily reliant on trade. While shipping companies have long been seeking ways to improve their margins, such as using bigger vessels, too many Asian companies have instead ignored margins to focus on sales growth — which is now slowing sharply.
本週，世界最大的集裝箱船滿載著從廣州、香港和深圳裝上的貨物，開啓了從亞洲到美國的處女航。然而，法國達飛海運集團(CMA CGM)旗下的「富蘭克林號」(Benjamin Franklin)的外觀（20層樓高，且長度超過帝國大廈的高度）突顯了高度依賴貿易的該地區的一個敗筆。雖然航運公司長期以來都在想方設法提高利潤率，比如使用更大的船舶，但太多亞洲企業忽略利潤率而專注於銷售成長——目前銷售正急劇減速。