OOIL revenues jump 26% in Q3 2017

Orient Overseas International Ltd., parent of Hong Kong-based container carrier OOCL, posted revenues of $1.45 billion for the third quarter of 2017, up 26.5 percent from the corresponding 2016 period.    Orient Overseas International Ltd. (OOIL), parent of Hong Kong-based container carrier Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), recorded a 26.5 percent increase in revenues to $1.45 billion for the third quarter of 2017.
   Total volumes were up 5 percent compared to the same period a year prior, OOIL said in a statement.
   Loadable capacity increased by 9 percent, with the overall load factor 3 percent lower than the same period in 2016. Additionally, overall average revenue per TEU increased by 20.6 percent compared to the third quarter of last year, said OOIL. 
   OOIL recorded TEU increases in three major trade lanes for the quarter, despite a 7.1 percent increase in Intra-Asia/Australasia capacity. Transpacific volumes increased 14.1 percent to 474,794 TEUs. Transatlantic volumes increased 13.6 percent to 110,942 and Asia/Europe saw a 24.7 percent increase to 297,897 TEUs.
   For the first nine months of 2017, OOIL saw total volumes increase by 6.2 percent and total revenues by 19 percent over the same period last year. Loadable capacity increased by 6.6 percent with the overall load factor 0.3 percent lower than the same period in 2016. Overall average revenue per TEU increased by 12.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
   Year-to-date volumes also saw increases in three major trade lanes, with a 5.8 percent decrease in Intra-Asia/Australasia. Transpacific volumes increased 19.8 percent to 1.3 million TEUs and Asia/Europe increased 23 percent to 844,402 TEUs. Transatlantic volumes increased 9.9 percent to 320,380 TEUs for the year.
   In a LinkedIn post regarding OOCL’s results, CEO Lars Jensen of SeaIntelligence Consulting wrote that “a clear shift in trade focus had emerged over the past two years, and is strongly seen this quarter.”Specifically, “in the 12 years from 2003 to 2015, OOCL’s business was increasingly dependent on cargo in Intra-Asia (and Australasia). In 2003 this accounted for 40 percent of their volume, but had steadily climbed to 55 percent in 2015,” said Jensen. However, but the third quarter, it was reduced to 45 percent, Jensen said. “Comparing to the other Q3 volumes, 2017 saw the lowest volumes in Intra-Asia for OOCL since 2012.”
   While Intra-Asia volumes have declined, cargo in the transpacific trade has rebounded, reaching 30 percent – “a level not seen since 2007,” Jensen wrote. “It is therefore clear, that not only has OOCL managed to gain substantial market share in all the main east-west trades, they are also rapidly reducing their share in Intra-Asia. Looking at past quarters, this development is not a mere fluke in this quarter alone, but is part of a trend,” he concluded.