PIL sees positive propulsion continuing

After 2017 profit, carrier will “continue to explore growth in the transpacific trade despite being a minor player.”     Pacific International Lines, a Singapore-based based ocean carrier and container manufacturer, said it was profitable in 2017 and revenues grew 32 percent as a result of an increase in shipping volume, average freight rates and container sales.
     PIL said that positive momentum is expected to continue in 2018.
    In an article written for the company’s magazine, PIL Connects, Executive Chairman S.S. Teo wrote, “We will continue to explore growth in the transpacific trade despite being a minor player.”
   PIL said it had revenues of $4.04 billion in 2017, a 32 percent increase from the $3.07 billion recorded in 2016. The company had operating income (earnings before income and tax) of $266.5 million in 2017, compared with a loss of $108.7 million in 2016. Net profit after tax was $119.5 million in 2017, compared with a net loss after tax of $251.4 million.
    Shipping revenue was up 21.3 percent, resulting from a 12 percent increase in shipping volume and a 9 percent increase in average freight rates.
    PIL is a carrier on intra-Asia trade lanes, both within East Asia, but also to the Indian subcontinent and Middle East. It also has services to North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
    BlueWater Reporting says PIL has grown its presence in the transpacific since it deployed a single ship in the trade in the second quarter of 2015. Since the first quarter of 2016, its nominal weekly capacity in the trade has grown from 2,844 TEUs to 7,598 TEUs this week. In the transpacific, it shares space with members of the Ocean Alliance (APL, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, OOCL) and another independent carrier, Wan Hai.
    Alphaliner ranks PIL as the 10th-largest container carrier in the world with 135 owned and chartered ships and estimates its capacity at 416,765 TEUs. It says seven ships on order will add capacity of 60,815 TEUs.
    PIL, however, says those ships — the last of a 12-ship order — have a capacity of 11,923 TEUs each and will boost its total fleet capacity to more than 500,000 TEUs when the last one is delivered by March 2019. PIL said that will make it the ninth-largest container carrier.
    Each of those new “P-class” ships can accommodate 1,400 refrigerated containers and “feature an energy efficient design with an EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) well below the required reference level, improving PIL’s carbon footprint,” it said.
    Teo said the ships “are purpose-built for key trading regions in the Red Sea, the Middle East and North America. The focus of their deployment in 2018 will be in the Red Sea through a collaboration with the Ocean Alliance. The new service setup will feature two dedicated direct loops from the Far East to the Red Sea, providing extensive coverage whilst delivering better system cost with the deployment of these neo-Panamax vessels. Our new service will further cement PIL’s leadership in the Red Sea region.”
    He added PIL will “continue to strengthen our presence in niche trades in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America and the Pacific Ocean region.”
    “As an independent operator that remains primarily ‘alliance neutral,’ PIL can be a valuable partner for consortia offering services that will generate value for both our partners and ourselves,” Teo said. “We cherish our independence and close ties with many of the world’s major container lines. We shall continue to have this outlook for the foreseeable future.”
   PIL owns about 41 percent of Singamas Container Holdings Ltd., a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the world’s second-largest container manufacturer after China International Marine Container. Singamas also has 11 container depots in China and Hong Kong.
   Singamas’ reported sales of containers were more than $1.4 billion in 2017, a 58.7 percent year-on-year increase.
    The company also is involved in ship recycling, marine service, real estate and logistics services.