SHENZHEN (OCTOBER 15, 2015) – The potential merger of China Shipping Container Lines and Cosco Container Lines could bring both advantages and disadvantages, according to shippers at the TPM Asia conference in Shenzhen.

Daniel Krassenstein, director of Asia operations at bulk bag manufacturer Procon Pacific, said that competition is good from a shipper's standpoint.

"With Cosco and China Shipping becoming one, suddenly you don't have that competition - that's the bad," said Krassenstein. "The good might be that now you have a much larger Chinese player who can go head-to-head against the likes of Maersk."

Bjorn Vang Jensen, vice president of global logistics at Electrolux, said that the merger wouldn't be a "game-changer," but that it would certainly be "a seismic event for the industry."

"Some of the alliances will have to do another round of musical chairs," said Vang Jensen. "Yes, there will be one less choice, but there's still a lot of choice out there."

The merger of the two companies, which suspended the trading of their shares in August 2015, would create the fourth-largest ocean carrier in the world.

"It will be very interesting to see how they assume that new role of being industry leaders," said Vang Jensen.

Natalia Chan, senior director of import transportation for Asia at US retailer Target, said that she wouldn't oppose the merger if it didn't impact reliability.

"At the end of the day, our goal is to serve our customers and to ensure that the goods are there, so a predictable and reliable service is very important," said Chan. "Whatever consolidation or merger they come to, all we ask for is the service level."

By Jeffrey Lee

Asia Cargo News