Low rates plague OOCL in Q2

Low rates plague OOCL in Q2    OOCL's revenue stagnated in the second quarter, while volume increased 6.5 percent, the liner carrier said in an interim statement Wednesday.
   OOCL’s revenue increased 1.4 percent to $1.4 billion in the second quarter, and rose 8.5 percent to $2.7 billion for the first half.
   First half container volume rose 9.4 percent, to 2.4 million TEUs. For the second quarter, container volume was 1.3 million TEUs. More than half of the line’s volume is derived from its intra-Asia and Asia/Oceania activities.
   “The difficult trading conditions seen in the first quarter of this year have continued in the second quarter, and the outlook for the full year is disappointing,” OOCL said. “Demand levels remain reasonable as reflected in an overall year-on-year increase in liftings. However, freight rates on east/west trades have further deteriorated over the course of the second quarter, particularly on the Asia/Europe trades. The deterioration in freight rates has occurred despite the need for improved revenues to offset the significant increases in the price of bunker and other energy related costs that have occurred this year.”
   OOCL said its loadable capacity increased 18.3 percent in the first half, causing its load factor to fall 8.3 percent compared to the same period in 2010. Overall average revenue per TEU dropped by 4.8 percent in the second quarter.
   The line does not release profit figures in its interim statements.