A full recovery in Chinese exports of consumer goods may not occur until the second half of this year, and even then growth could be modest, giant container shipper Maersk Line.

The container-shipping division of Denmark's A.P. Møller Maersk A/S said that while Chinese exports finished 2012 on a strong note and volumes in the run up to the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday were good, the question remained as to how quickly exports would come back after Chinese New Year.

"We expect the export pickup to be slightly delayed to the second half," said David Williams, Maersk Line's managing director for East China, citing uncertain economic conditions in Europe and the United States.

On an annual basis, China's overall export-growth rate has been declining. In 2012, exports grew by 7.9% year-on-year, down from 20.3% in 2011.

Furniture, apparel and other consumer products are typically transported from China on container ships, and two markets--Europe and North America-constitute the vast majority of exports of consumer goods.

Maersk Line--the world's largest container shipper in terms of revenue--said it expected volumes on its Asia-Europe service to grow by 0.5% in full-year 2013, compared with a drop of 2.4% in 2012.

Volume growth carried on the route would be "flat" in the first half, the company said.

Container shipments from Asia to North America are expected to increase 3.2% year-on-year in 2013, compared with 1% in 2012, the company said.

Globally demand for container shipments is expected to increase up to 5% this year, the company said.

Maersk Line divides its China business in into three regions. Mr. Williams said the volume growth rate out of his East China region dropped significantly in 2012 to 0.3% from 5.8%, without disclosing actual volumes. He added that while north China continued to offer growth opportunities south China was "maturing."

Source: Dow Jones