Monday, March 18, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Will Matson Survive?
By Michael Hansen @ 4:17 PM :: 8235 Views :: Jones Act

Will Matson Survive?

by Michael Hansen

Respected U.S. shipbuilding expert, Tim Colton, commented this morning on the news that Matson Inc. (MATX) is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as an independent company and is formerly no longer part of Alexander & Baldwin Holdings / Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

Colton questions what the future of Matson might be and whether or not they will be able to survive? He notes that Matson is locked into a protected Jones Act trade with old ships they can’t afford to replace in compliance with the U.S.-build requirement of the Jones Act.

Part and parcel of being locked in to a protected domestic trade, it is unlikely that Matson will be able to find new opportunities in its core business of ocean container transportation. The domestic U.S. container shipping market is very limited and all the current operators face the same problem of extraordinary domestic ship replacement costs. As a protected domestic operator, Matson would not be competitive in international trade. Matson discovered this the hard way with their failed Trans-pacific Asia direct service, which was shutdown last year due to continuing losses.

Given the ship replacement cost Matson is facing – probably on the order $750 million; the real question is will Matson go the way of Horizon Lines in to financial decline?

The new Matson’s ordinary shares traded at $26.50 In aftermarket trading on Friday, June 29, 2012, opened at $27.74 this morning Monday, July 2, 2012, and closed today at $27.83.

As Colton noted, it will be interesting over the next 12 to 18 months to see whether the major A&B shareholders and executives sell off their Matson shares.

---30---

Pacific News Center: Ship Building Expert Questions Whether Matson Will Survive

From http://www.coltoncompany.com/

Colton: It's Day 1 for the New Matson

Matson Navigation Company, Inc., is now on its own, a stand-alone shipping -and-logistics company trapped in a protected and proscribed market, surrounded by customers who don't like paying its exorbitant rates and unable to afford modern ships. Will it flourish? Will it even survive? Watch closely. The new company's ticker symbol is MATX. Its former parent, Alexander & Baldwin, (ALEX), closed on Friday at $53.25. After the market closed, ALEX was trading at $25.17 and MATX at $26.50. Today's trading will tell us what A&B's stockholders think about the spin-off. July 2, 2012.

Colton: New Matson Afloat Already

Alexander & Baldwin doesn't officially split in two until the end of the month, but the new Matson - Matson Navigation Company, Inc. - is already off and running. Read the separation information here and visit the new web site here. Well now, how do we think Matson will do in this new life it has ahead of it? Let's face it, the A&B folks are no dummies: the reason for the split was obviously to unload Matson. But the new Matson won't have the financial muscle that it had as part of A&B and it still has some old tonnage to replace, plus the need to placate a lot of non-contiguans who have worked out that the Jones Act costs them money. We shall see how they do. June 20, 2012.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT