Box shipping liner Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) recorded higher volumes and revenues for both the second quarter and second half of 2017, according to parent firm Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL).
Total volumes lifted by Hong Kong-listed OOCL in April-June were up 6.6% to 1.62 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 1.52 million TEUs in the same period of 2016, OOIL said in a statement.
Three of the four key trade lanes showed increases. The trans-Pacific exhibited growth of 25.7% to reach 471,610 TEUs transported, while Asia-Europe increased 26.3% to 295,220 TEUs, and the trans-Atlantic by 11.9% to 108,580 TEUs. Intra-Asia/Australasia volumes, on the other hand, contracted 8.5% to 741,250 TEUs.
Total revenues in the second quarter went up by 23.8% to US$1.4 billion. Loadable capacity increased by 9.6%. The overall load factor was 2.3% lower than the same period in 2016. Overall average revenue per TEU increased by 16.2% compared to the second quarter of last year.
For the first six months of 2017, total volumes increased by 6.8% over the same period last year and total revenues recorded a 15.2% growth.
Trans-Pacific traffic demonstrated the biggest improvement, expanding 23.1% to 865,080 TEUs. Asia-Europe comes in second with 546,500 TEUs lifted for a 22.2% growth, followed by trans-Atlantic transporting 209,440 TEUs, higher by 8% from the same period a year ago. But intra-Asia/Australasia dipped 5.2% compared to the preceding year, shipping 1.47 million TEUs for April-June 2017.
Loadable capacity in the first six months of the current year increased by 5.3%. The overall load factor was 1.2% higher than the same period in 2016. Overall average revenue per TEU increased by 7.8% compared to the same period last year.
Earlier this month, Cosco Shipping Holdings, the fourth biggest container shipping liner, has offered to acquire OOIL, the seventh largest container shipping company, for more than US$6 billion.
If the deal pushes through, it will see the China-based Cosco group dislodge France’s CMA CGM as the world’s third largest container liner after Denmark’s Maersk Line and Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Company.
Photo courtesy of OOCL
