COSCO Shipping Ports (CSP), the biggest terminal operator in the world by market share, suffered a drop in gross profits of 7.1% in 2019 despite seeing throughput increase across its portfolio.
In its annual financial results, CSP said it had effectively implement its business strategy “in spite uncertainties casted over global trade”, in reference to the US-China trade war.
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The increase in throughput was attributed to an increase in calls from the world’s major shipping alliances and contributions from CSP’s recently acquired terminals.
Throughput in its terminals in Greater China increased by 3.4% and accounted for 77% of its overall traffic.
Within Greater China, CSP’s best performing region was ‘Southwest Coast’, where the throughput increased by 19.5%.
Its terminals outside China increased by 13% and was substantially helped by calls from Ocean Alliance and The Alliance.
Its operations at the Port of Piraeus, Greece, was its best performing overseas terminal, with a throughput increase of 13%.
Looking forward to 2020, CSP said the next 12 months were full of “challenges and opportunities”, in particular the COVID-19, or coronavirus, pandemic.
The pandemic has caused uncertainty and congestion around the world, in particular China. However, it insisted it is well prepared to manage the crisis and that in China at least it has been contained.
