The nation’s two largest container shipping firms have seen their revenues for last year grow, compared with a year ago, on the back of a major global shippers’ strategy to control supply to maintain freight rates.
On Wednesday, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), the nation’s second-biggest container shipper in terms of fleet scale, posted revenue of NT$8.27 billion (US$284.79 million) for last month, up 8.06 percent from a year earlier, the company said in its stock exchange filing.
That brought last year’s revenue to NT$105.95 billion, up 8.08 percent from a year ago, reflecting the positive impact of major global players’ efforts to safeguard the sector’s performance and profitability.
Major global container shipment companies started decreasing new supply from the second half of last year, hoping to boost freight rates, sales and reverse losses in the first half.
The upside driver helped Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the nation’s largest container shipping firm, post a rising trend in sales last year. Revenue rose 7.22 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.49 billion last month and full-year sales stood at NT$16.22 billion, statistics showed. Consolidated revenue — a more accurate figure for evaluating the company’s performance — totaled NT$128.71 billion in the first 11 months of last year, up 29.86 percent from a year earlier, data showed.
Compared with its competitors, Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) saw its sales slide 11.91 percent from a year ago, the company said.
Cumulative sales for the nation’s third-largest container shipping company totaled NT$56.59 billion for last year, down 9.74 percent from the previous year, due to its withdrawal from shipping routes to the US and Europe this year.
Sales and profitability for the container shipping sector could rebound in the first half of this year compared with a year ago, due to major global players’ moves to control capacity, a brokerage house said in its latest report.
Evergreen has announced it will implement a rate restoration program from yesterday for routes to Europe and the Mediterranean region by raising the price for a twenty-foot equivalent unit to US$350.
“Global shippers may maintain the solid pricing strategy, following load efficiency of long-haul routes, including routes to Europe and the US, rebounding last month,” Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said.
The brokerage house also expected shippers’ sales to climb ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, due to strong seasonal demand, which will be a solid support for their move to boost freight rates in the near future.
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