News / Outlook for deepsea carriers more 'optimistic', but transpacific remains volatile

© Lee Snider

The first tangible evidence that the container liner industry is on course for a profitable year comes from Chinese carrier Cosco, which expects a half-year profit of $272m.

Cosco, the world’s fourth-biggest carrier, told the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday it was forecasting an interim H1 net profit of about Rmb1.85bn, compared with a loss of Rmb7.2bn in the same period of last year.

“Freight rates for container shipping operations have increased year-on-year,” Cosco said in a statement to the bourse. “Container volumes have grown ...