French boxship giant CMA CGM said it has seen a general increase in economic activity in coronavirus-hit China.
The company also gave details of its own revised working practices at its offices there.
"Manufacturing activities are gradually picking up, more port workers and truck drivers are returning to their posts, and cargo flow is easing up at the major coastal ports," the liner operator said in an update on the evolving Covid-19 situation.
"In short, business operations have now entered the recovery phase."
CMA CGM added it is striving to support customers without jeopardising the health of its employees.
From this week, workers have been deployed at its offices in alternating teams, while some staff continue to work at home.
"CMA CGM Group remains fully committed to comply with any regulatory requirements and policies aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19," it added.
Bonds hit by virus fall-out
This week TradeWinds reported that the company's bonds had taken a hit that analysts attributed to uncertainty caused by the coronavirus.
The impact means the French carrier may experience difficulty in refinancing debt this year, making its plans to raise liquidity all the more important.
CMA CGM’s senior unsecured bonds due in January 2021 have slumped by about €0.10 ($0.11) on the euro over the past month to €0.88, according to ICE data.
Of this drop, €0.04 on the euro has been lost this week.
Last month, the French carrier said it had taken significant preventative and proactive measures to tackle the Covid-19 situation.
Visitors to its Chinese offices were requested to wear a mask and make use of hand sanitisers.
And Marseilles-based CMA CGM added that strict hygiene measures had been put in place on vessels.
"In order to limit their exposure to the virus, we are restricting our crew from signing on/off at the affected ports," the company said.
"Our seafarers shall fully comply and cooperate with local authorities for any pre-quarantine checks."
Idle boxship fleet increases
Fearnley Securities said that following the Covid-19 outbreak, the idle boxship fleet has increased to 9%, already above the levels seen during the 2008 financial crash and the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy in 2016.
Port volumes in China were down between 20% and 40% over the last three weeks, and with factories slowly re-opening it will take some time before normal volumes are reached, the investment bank added.
"The shortfall in demand is already felt in certain sizes below 3,000 teu, but it is simply too early to make predictions either way – recent fixtures have mostly been extensions. Our base case is for softening rates through the first half of 2020," Fearnley Securities said.
Clarksons Research said its cross-sector earnings index, the ClarkSea, is down 32% since the start of 2020.
That is "not as dramatic as some single segment shipping indices and actually remaining up year-on-year, increasing marginally in each of the past two weeks," the research department of shipbroking giant Clarksons added.
