Hutchison says it is well positioned for mega vessels

   Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) said it had profit of 966.3 million Hong Kong Dollars ($124.6 million) in the third quarter ending September 30, about 2 percent less than the profit earned in the same 2012 period.
   Revenue in the same period was 3.36 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 1 percent.
   Hutchison said container throughput at its facilities in Hong Kong was down 11.6 percent in the quarter compared to the same period of 2012, “in view of weaker transshipment, intra-Asia and U.S./EU cargoes.”
   At Yantian International Container Terminals in Shenzhen, thoughput decreased by 3.5 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2012, primarily due to the drop in empty volume.
   The port said average revenue-per-TEU for Hong Kong was higher than last year because of the favorable throughput mix of containers from liners, whereas that for China, it was higher than last year due to fewer concessions granted to some liners and a lower empty/laden container ratio.
   Hutchison noted the container volumes it handles are influenced by the performance and growth of international and regional economies, in particular Europe and North America.
   “There are some signs of improvement on the horizon for the U.S.-bound trade, but the cargo traffic to Europe remains soft. Transshipment along with trade routes such as Far East, Africa, Central and South America and Oceania are expected to outperform those of the U.S. and Europe.”
    Hutchison said, “Shipping lines continue to deploy more mega-vessels, strengthen the cooperation with other carriers by expanding the coverage of the vessel-sharing agreements, and centralize container handling at hub ports to achieve efficiency, cost containment and economies of scale. HPH Trust’s terminals are well-positioned to capture more business from these shifts given the advantages of the state-of-the-art infrastructure, natural deep-water channels, long continuous berths and scale of operations.”