COSCO reports 9 percent revenue increase

Chinese carrier sees container volumes rise, except on the trade lane between Asia and Europe.    COSCO Shipping Holdings Co. Ltd. said it had revenue of 21.9 billion yuan renminbi (RMB) ($3.4 billion) in the first quarter ending March 31, a 9 percent increase over the same period last year. Net profit was 181 million RMB, a 33 percent decrease from the same period last year.
   Revenues from container shipping were 18.5 billion RMB, an 8 percent increase.
   COSCO saw an increase in the number of containers it carried overall and on most routes.
   In total, it carried 5.2 million TEUs in the first quarter, 11.8 percent more than in first quarter of 2017.
   On individual trade routes volumes:
    • Increased 7.5 percent in the transpacific to 762,455 TEUs;
    • Decreased 10 percent on the Asia-Europe lane, including the Mediterranean, to 933,378 TEUs;
    • Increased 22 percent on intra-Asia lanes, including Australia, to 1.5 million TEUs;
    • Increased 52.7 percent on other international trade lanes to 556,341 TEUs;
    • And increased 10.4 percent on domestic Chinese routes to 1.4 million TEUs.
   The container terminals in which COSCO is a participant handled 27.2 million TEUs in the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 38 percent when compared to the same period in 2017. At terminals it controls, the volume was up 38.5 percent to 5.2 million TEUs.