Cosco-owned containership company OOCL has returned to profit in the first half as volumes grew.
Profit attributable to equity holders was $139m, turning around a loss of $10m in 2018.
Revenue was up at $3.3bn from $3.1bn, as liner liftings grew to 3.4m teu from 3.3m teu.
It added no newbuildings and did not order any either.
"In terms of medium and long-term supply growth, the containership orderbook, as a percentage of the total fleet, is at low levels not seen for more than a decade," it said.
"Moreover, there are reports that scrapping of vessels has been greater this year than in the same period in 2018, a trend that may continue once IMO 2020 low sulphur regulations come in and render older vessels less economic."
It added: "In the short term where reduced levels of demand have caused existing operations to be unprofitable, the industry’s supply will have to react quicker to meet the changing demand."
