China Shipping’s 3rd-quarter revenue up 23.2%

China Shipping’s 3rd-quarter revenue up 23.2%    China Shipping Container Lines Wednesday reported substantial increases to its revenues and container volumes in the third quarter.
   Third quarter revenue jumped 23.2 percent to RMB7.78 billion ($959.3 million) compared to RMB6.31 billion in the same period last year.
   The Hong Kong stock exchange listed carrier said the improved revenue in the quarter was the result of a 3.1 percent rise in its average freight rates to RMB6,461 ($799) per TEU from RMB6,264 per TEU, and a 21.4 percent hike in total box volumes. During the quarter China Shipping carried a total of 1.2 million TEUs compared to 991,815 TEUs in the corresponding year earlier period, helped by a massive 405.8 percent jump in capacity on its round-the-world services.
   In July, the carrier started its own all-water AMAX service from Asia to Canada and the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. Revenue on China Shipping’s round-the-world services soared 334.6 percent to RMB489.3 million ($60.6 million) from RMB112.6 million in the year earlier quarter.
   The next biggest gain in revenue came from the America market with a rise of 33.6 percent to RMB3.22 billion ($398.5 million) from RMB2.41 billion.
   Revenue from the Australia market jumped 20.2 percent to RMB365.3 million ($45.2 million) from RMB303.9 million. Revenue from services in the East and Southeast Asia trade rose 13.9 percent to RMB407.9 million ($50.4 million) from RMB303.9 million. Europe/Mediterranean services posted revenue of RMB2.62 billion ($325 million) up 11.1 percent from RMB2.36 billion.
   Revenue from China domestic services was down 6.7 percent to RMB475.2 million ($58.8 million). The revenue from other unidentified trades declined 25.3 percent to RMB186.9 million ($23.1 million).
   During the third quarter China Shipping received six new ships with a combined capacity of just under 27,000 TEUs, pushing its overall fleet capacity to 327,841 TEUs, and helping it to surpass APL as the world’s fifth-largest ocean carrier.
   “By the end of 2005, the group’s fleet capacity is expected to increase to 349,293 TEU, representing an increase of 37.4 percent from the beginning of the year,” China Shipping said.