COSCO Ship Holdings (CSH), the container arm of the China COSCO group, said on 29 April that Q1 2021 net profit rose 26-fold, rising to CNY17.8 billion (US$2.71 billion), as the remarkable recovery in container shipping continued.
Revenue was up 80% to CNY64.84 billion (US$9.87 billion), with income from container shipping up 82% to CNY63.52 billion (US$9.67 billion). The Asia-Europe, Intra-Asia and Transpacific routes were the three highest contributors to the group’s revenue from container shipping.
CSH, whose shipping subsidiaries include COSCO Shipping Lines (COSCON), Orient Overseas Container Lines and Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping, transported 6.78 million-TEU in Q1 2021, up 21% year-on-year.
COSCO Shipping Ports, CSH’s terminal operating arm, processed 30.19 million TEU in Q1 2021, up 10% year-on-year.
China International Marine Containers (CIMC), CSH’s container manufacturing affiliate, achieved a net profit of CNY1.51 billion (US$229.83 million), reversing a net loss of CNY641.45 million (US$95.6 million) in Q1 2020.
Container sales totalled 450,800TEU, up 174% year-on-year, while reefer sales hit 45,900TEU, up 82% year-on-year. CIMC added that healthy demand for containers spilled over to sales of container trailers.
The container maker said, “China’s cold chain logistics industry continued to develop at a rapid pace, with the market size of fresh food transportation and e-commerce distribution growing rapidly, resulting in a significant increase in the sales volume and revenue of refrigerated van bodies.”
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
