Orient Overseas Container Line has logged a steep drop in revenue in the first concrete indication that the liner sector’s slump persisted towards the end of 2023.
Hong Kong-listed parent Orient Overseas (International) Limited, ultimately owned by China’s Cosco, said fourth-quarter freight income was $1.62bn, down 49% from the same period in 2022.
OOCL is always the first listed container ship owner to report any quarterly figures. Profit details follow later on in the financial cycle.
Total cargo liftings increased by 7.2% and loadable capacity increased by 9.1%, however.
The overall load factor was 1.5% lower than the same period in 2022, with average revenue per teu down 52.5% compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
For the calendar year, revenue fell 59.6% year-on-year to $7.54bn.
In the final three months, the biggest drop was seen in transatlantic trades, with revenue falling 65% to $133m.
Volumes here dropped 11.5% to 107,500 teu.
Transpacific liftings rose nearly 20% to 482,000 teu, but revenue plunged 40%.
Red Sea disruption has been lifting markets since the final days of 2023, however.
TradeWinds reported freight rates trebled in a matter of days amid growing uncertainty over the crisis caused by Houthi attacks on shipping.
Spot rates rose by around 80% in the 11 days to 2 January to their highest levels since October 2022, according to a basket of 12 trades measured by the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX).
The market has been lifted by a huge rise in freight rates from China to Europe.
Rates from Asia to Europe grew 150% since 22 December — or $2,452 — to $4,042 per 40-foot equivalent unit on 2 January, according to the FBX.
