Maersk shipping unit sees stagnation in 2010-paper

FRANKFURT, July 2 (Reuters) - A.P. Moller-Maersk's (MAERSKb.CO) liner shipping business expects stagnation at best in the industry next year but will not cut freight rates to win more market share, the head of the division told a German newspaper.

"We are pretty disappointed by what we've seen in April and May," the head of Maersk Line, Eivind Kolding told business daily Financial Times Deutschland in an interview published on Thursday. He said growth in shipping volumes in 2010 is unlikely.

Kolding said he is currently not trying to increase Maersk Line's market share, which stands at about 15 percent.

"If we did that we would increase the pressure on freight rates further," Kolding was quoted as saying.

It is hard to predict whether the Danish company will manage to lift rates, he added.

Capacity utilisation in the industry should decline further over the next 12 months, particularly in the first quarter of 2010, the division head also said.

The current downturn could speed up consolidation and capacity reduction and Maersk should play an active role in takeovers in the next few years, even though takeovers are not currently on Maersk's agenda, he said.

Moller-Maersk's tanker business is also anticipating merger and acquisition activity picking up as shippers try to cut costs and boost vessel usage, the division's chief Soren Skou told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Greg Mahlich)