COSCO Shipping Holdings (601919.SH / 01919.HK), a listed platform under the state-owned COSCO Shipping Group, reported a revenue of 233.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%, and net profit, excluding non-recurring items, reached 49.02 billion yuan, up 106.4%.
In 2024, the global economy continued its moderate recovery, with global container shipping market demand increasing by about 5% to 7%, and on the supply side, global new container shipping capacity deliveries reached around 3 million TEUs, representing a year-on-year increase of over 10%, the company said.
Despite the significant increase in new vessel capacity deliveries, the impact of the Red Sea crisis, along with vessel rerouting and port congestion, absorbed some of the capacity, easing supply-side pressure. As a result, the market supply-demand relationship tightened, leading to a rebound in freight rates, and the 2024 average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) rose by 65% year-on-year, it noted.
Benefiting from the surge in freight rates, COSCO Shipping Holdings saw consecutive quarterly profit growth for three quarters in 2024, although there was a pullback in the fourth quarter. From Q1 2023 to Q3 2024, the company’s net profit, excluding non-recurring items, was 7.1 billion yuan, 9.4 billion yuan, 5.5 billion yuan, 1.8 billion yuan, 6.8 billion yuan, 10.1 billion yuan, and 21.2 billion yuan, respectively. However, net profit in Q4 2024 declined to 11 billion yuan.
Due to its strong annual performance, COSCO Shipping Holdings maintained ample cash flow and strengthened its financial structure. As of the end of 2024, the company’s asset-liability ratio had declined by about 4.69 percentage points year-on-year to 42.7%. Its cash and cash equivalents stood at 184.19 billion yuan, while net cash inflow from operating activities reached 69.31 billion yuan.
In 2024, COSCO Shipping Holdings received 12 new vessels, adding a total capacity of 230,000 TEUs. This included multiple next-generation 24,000-TEU eco-friendly vessels, 16,000-TEU vessels, and 14,000-TEU Panamax vessels for the Latin American market. By the end of 2024, the company’s self-operated fleet capacity exceeded 3.3 million TEUs.
With its growing fleet, the company expanded its route network. By the end of 2024, it operated 429 shipping routes, covering 629 ports across approximately 145 countries and regions worldwide. The company also opened and upgraded new routes in emerging markets, achieving rapid volume growth in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
In November 2024, COSCO Shipping Ports (01199.HK) inaugurated the Chancay Port in Peru, a strategic hub for COSCO Shipping Group in the region. COSCO Shipping Ports, the terminal operations platform of COSCO Shipping Holdings, will continue to prioritize investment in emerging offshore markets. The company has repeatedly emphasized its focus on acquiring strategically significant controlling terminals and high-profit minority stake terminals in emerging markets, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa, to establish a balanced global terminal network.
In late October 2024, COSCO Shipping Ports announced that it had signed agreements to acquire minority stakes in two terminals at Thailand’s Laem Chabang Port. This includes acquiring a 12.5% stake in Thai Laem Chabang Terminal Co., Ltd. (TLT) and a 30% stake in Hutchison Laem Chabang Terminal Limited (HLT).
The total acquisition price for these assets was $110 million, covering Berth A2 at TLT and Berths A3, C1-C2, and D1-D3 at HLT. The D1-D3 berths are still under construction and are expected to have an annual handling capacity of approximately 6.7 million TEUs once completed. Prior to COSCO Shipping Ports’ acquisition, TLT and HLT were both owned by Hutchison Ports, a subsidiary of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings. Even after the transaction, Hutchison Ports will retain control of these terminals, as it remains the major investor in Laem Chabang Port.
Located southeast of Bangkok, about 60 nautical miles from Bangkok Port, Laem Chabang Port is Thailand’s largest container hub, handling approximately 80% of the country’s total throughput. In 2023, Laem Chabang Port processed 8.87 million TEUs, ranking 16th among global container ports. TLT and HLT terminals handled a combined volume of 3.03 million TEUs, accounting for over one-third of the port’s total throughput.
Through investments and acquisitions, COSCO Shipping Ports’ terminal portfolio now spans China’s five major coastal port clusters, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, South America, and Africa. As of December 31, 2024, COSCO Shipping Ports operated and managed 375 berths across 39 ports worldwide, including 226 container berths, with an annual handling capacity of approximately 124 million TEUs.