Hutchison Port Holdings Trust negative on 2022 as profits suffer

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Email
Kwai Tsing container terminal port view in drone. HK logistics face the challege from china port and Vietnam port as the cheaper cost and the lack of government policy

Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) has highlighted a swathe of pressures facing China’s container sector in its latest financial results.

Overall container throughput in the first half of 2022 reached 11.69 million TEU for the major terminal operator, tracking far behind last year’s full-year figure of 24.51 million TEU.

Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT), based in Shenzhen, buoyed the firm’s underperforming terminals with a 7 per cent throughput rise to 7.05 million TEU.

Kwai Tsing terminals – which includes Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), COSCO-HIT and Asia Container Terminals (ACT) – suffered, dropping 7 per cent to 4.69 million TEU in 1H 2022.

“Outbound cargoes to the US grew by 3 per cent in the first six months of 2022 whereas volume to the EU dropped by 1 per cent,” HPH Trust wrote in its financial results.

“YICT’s throughput increase was mainly attributed to the increase in the US and empty cargoes. The drop in HPHT Kwai Tsing’s throughput was mainly due to lower local and transshipment cargoes.”

The firm added that the decline volume of import/export cargoes handled in Hong Kong has led to “pressure on profitability.”

“This also negatively affects shipping lines’ preference to use Hong Kong as one of their hubs for transshipment as the flexibility in service rotation reduces,” HPHT wrote.

In its financial announcements, net profit after tax (NPAT) attributable to unitholders HK$716.3 million ($91.2 million) for the 1HFY2022 ended June, down 6.8 per cent from earnings of HK$768.3 million ($97.8 million) for the same period the year prior.

HPH Trust noted that the number of skipped calls remained high in Q2 2022 despite showing some decrease compared with Q1 2022.

Internal and external factors highlighted by HPH Trust include the increase in COVID-19 cases in Mainland China – such as Shanghai – that have continued into Q2 2022.

Continuing disruption due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a high inflationary environment were also highlighted as negative impacts to HPH Trust’s import/export market.

“A high inflationary environment will lead to reduction in orders from purchasing managers in the West. The market is expecting export volume from China to Europe/US to continuously come under pressure in the remainder of 2022,” HPH Trust wrote.

Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Trust saw a 75 per cent increase in profits for 2021.

Hutchison Ports Yantian accommodated six 400-metre-long vessels concurrently earlier this month.

On 14 July the mega port handled “MSC SVEVA”, “MANCHESTER MAERSK”, “CMA CGM ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT”, “CMA CGM GEORG FORSTER”, “CMA CGM JEAN MERMOZ” and “EVELYN MAERSK”.

Daily Email Newsletter

Sign up to our daily email newsletter to receive the latest news from Port Technology International.
FREE

Supplier Directory

Find out how to get listed

Webinar Series

Find out how to attend

Latest Stories

Cookie Policy. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.