On 27 August, Fujian Air China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as ‘Air China Ocean Shipping’) announced its financial report for the first half of 2024, in which the company achieved significant growth.
During the reporting period, Air China Ocean Shipping achieved a total operating income of 461 million yuan, an increase of 2.51% year-on-year; operating profit of 79,837,100 yuan, an increase of 378.83% year-on-year; net profit of 67,475,000 yuan, an increase of 308.52% year-on-year; and deducted net profit of 42,705,600 yuan, an increase of 268.39% year-on-year.
Behind the impressive growth is Air China COSCO's efforts to cultivate the market, meet challenges and promote green transformation.
The recovery of the international dry bulk market was undoubtedly the core driver of Air China COSCO's growth, with foreign trade revenue accounting for 76.85% of total revenue during the reporting period.20 In the first half of 2012, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) averaged 1,835.86 points, a sharp rise of 58.69% year-on-year. The climb of this index directly promoted the upward movement of foreign trade freight rates, while a large amount of Air China Ocean Shipping's self-owned vessel capacity was invested in foreign trade routes, which enabled it to benefit greatly from the freight rate increase.
While the foreign trade market performed brightly, the downturn in the domestic market became a challenge for Air China Ocean Shipping to face. According to the financial report, Air China Ocean Shipping's domestic trade revenue in the first half of 2024 was 107 million yuan, down 54.57% year-on-year. In the face of this divergence in domestic and foreign trade freight rates, Air China Ocean Shipping decisively adjusted its domestic and foreign trade vessels to operate foreign trade routes. This strategic adjustment not only demonstrated the Company's accurate grasp of the market pulse, but also its flexibility and foresight in capacity allocation. By focusing its resources on the more lucrative foreign trade market, Air China Ocean Shipping has not only effectively offset the negative impact of the downturn in the domestic market, but also further strengthened its competitiveness in the international market.
Currently, Air China Ocean Shipping is promoting the upgrading of its capacity structure in an orderly manner. The Company is actively responding to the goal of decarbonisation of global shipping and implementing a green and low-carbon transformation strategy. It is building green vessels with the use of proceeds and self-financing funds, and is actively responding to the emission reduction rules of the International Maritime Organisation that will come into effect in January 2023, as well as the requirements of the European Union's carbon tax, by pushing forward technological reforms and upgrading of vessels, continuing to push forward the optimisation of its own fleet's capacity arrangement, and constructing new green, low-carbon and energy-saving vessels.
Against the backdrop of the increasing urgency to decarbonise global shipping, Air China Ocean Shipping has proactively responded to the national policy of ‘equipment renewal’ and actively promoted the upgrading of its capacity structure.2024, the State Council and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) have issued policies that explicitly call for accelerating the scrapping and renewal of old ships, and strongly support the development of new energy-powered ships.
Air China Ocean Shipping's strategy is highly compatible with this policy direction. On the same day of announcing its financial results for the first half of the year, the company said in another report that in response to the ‘equipment renewal’ policy put forward by the state, and in accordance with the group's overall capacity deployment strategy, it intends to dismantle the ‘Guoyuan 6’ bulk carrier belonging to the group, and continue to promote the construction of green and low-carbon ships and the fleet. and continue to promote the construction and fleet optimisation of green and low-carbon vessels.
According to the information, the bulk carrier ‘Guoyuan 6’ has a deadweight of 47,174 tonnes and was built in 1997. According to the calculation of Air China COSCO, the book value of the vessel is approximately RMB67.846 million.
As at 30 June 2024, Air China had disclosed that it had signed construction contracts for a total of 14 vessels, all of which were 60,000 to 80,000 tonnes class dry bulk carriers, and had delivered one newbuilding vessel in May and June 2024 respectively. Meanwhile, since 2024, Air China COSCO has considered and disclosed the announcement of the sale of 3 old vessels. Through the above measures to optimise the Company's capacity structure, the Company will effectively improve the scale of the Company's capacity and operational efficiency.
In the view of Maritime Circle Focus, Air China Ocean Shipping's performance in the first half of 2024 is undoubtedly a successful breakthrough in the global shipping market. However, what is more noteworthy is the strategic layout and forward thinking demonstrated behind it. Under the double pressure of fluctuations in the global shipping market and policy changes, Air China Ocean Shipping has successfully turned challenges into opportunities by flexibly adjusting its capacity structure and actively promoting green and low-carbon transformation.
In the future, with the increasing uncertainties in the international market and rising environmental protection requirements, whether Air China COSCO can continue to maintain its performance growth and take a leading position in the competition in the global shipping industry will depend on its continuous innovation and adjustment in green transformation, capacity optimisation and market layout. Air China Ocean Shipping's successful experience provides an important reference for the entire industry and injects more confidence and expectation into the future shipping market.
https://www.cnss.com.cn/html/hyqy/20240829/354457.html
|
Back:
Next:
