Chinese shipping group COSCO Shipping Holdings Co. filed in the third quarter of this year with revenues that marked a new quarterly record high, with results of 105.76 billion yuan (14.6 billion), with a increase of 14.7% on the corresponding period of 2021. Containerized shipping activities alone, which make up the group's main business, totaled revenues of 104.04 billion yuan (+ 14.7%). Of these 99.47 billion yuan (+ 16.2%) were generated directly by the services operated by the group's container fleets, of which 32.26 billion produced by the transpacificate services (+ 28.8%), 25.56 billion from the Asia-Europe services (-4.0%), 24.35 billion from intra-Asian services (+ 30.9%), 3.00 billion from China's domestic services (-7.0%) and 14.31 billion from other international services (+ 18.1%).

The only ships of COSCO Shipping Lines, which is the group's main containerized shipping company, generated revenues of 66.20 billion yuan (+ 13.3%), including 19.12 billion stemming from the transpacificate services (+ 28.6%), 16.90 billions from Asia-Europe services (-8.1%), 14.52 billion from intra-Asian services (+ 27.2%), 3.04 billion from China's domestic services (-6.6%) and 12.63 billion from other international services (+ 20.1%).

Relatively to the volumes of containerized freight carried by the group's fleet in the third quarter of 2022, the total amounted to 6.06 million teu, with a -8.2% percent decline that is the fifth consecutive quarterly decrease. The only ships deployed in the Pacific carried 1.08 million teu (-10.8%), those operated between Asia and Europe 1.11 million teu (-14.6%), the container ships active on the intra-Asian routes 2.05 million teu (+ 2.1%), the vessels used on the Chinese domestic routes 1.12 million teu (-17.0%) and the ships employed on the other international routes carried 693mila teu (-4.7%).

Volumes carried by the sole fleet of COSCO Shipping Lines totaled 4.31 million teu (-10.0%), including 665 thousand teu in the Pacific market (-8.4%), 730mila in that Asia-Europe (-18.0%), 1.22 million teu in the intra-Asian market (+ 0.4%), 1.12 million teu in China's national team (-17.0%) and 579mila teu in the other international markets (-5.8%).

In the third quarter of this year, for the first time after eight quarters, the operating costs of the Chinese group recorded an increase above that of revenues by being amounted to 65.58 billion yuan (+ 19.8%). Operating profit and net profit marked new records relatively to the third quarter of the year by being equal to 49.10 billion (+ 9.1%) and 38.57 billion yuan (+ 9.6%), respectively.

In the first nine months of 2022, the revenues of the shipowner group stood at 316.54 billion yuan (43.7 billion), an increase of 36.7% percent on the corresponding period last year. Operating profit was 141.03 billion (+ 51.5%) and net profit of 115.2 billion yuan (+ 47.6%).

The group, meanwhile, ordered the construction of 12 dual-fuel container ships from 24,000 teu that will be able to be supplied with methanol. This is a committed total of 2.88 billion divided into orders issued against the Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) for the construction of five ships that will be used by COSCO Shipping Lines and towards the Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) for the construction of seven ships that will be employed by the Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), the company that is part of the group through the OOIL in Hong Kong.

The two shipyards are both joint ventures between the COSCO Group and Japan's Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation. DACKS will deliver the five container ships between February 2027 and June 2028, while NACKS will deliver the other seven ships between the third quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2028.

As for COSCO Shipping Development Co., the company of the Chinese group that deals with principalment4e container construction, the revenues recorded in the third quarter of this year amounted to 5.90 billion yuan (812 million), with a decrease of -55.4% on the corresponding period of 2021. Net profit decreased by -60.3% percent to 1.02 billion yuan.

Making the financial results of the first nine months of 2022, period in which revenues amounted to 19.00 billion yuan with a -32.5% percent decline over the same period in 2021, COSCO Shipping Development Co. explained that the reduction in the volume of business was mainly determined by the downturn in the volumes of container sales. The operating profit of the period was 4.59 billion (-35.7% percent) and net profit of 3.72 billion yuan (-33.5% percent).