BEIJING—China’s export machine gained steam in August as countries gradually recovering from coronavirus lockdowns, including the U.S., snapped up more Chinese-made goods.
Outbound shipments from China rose 9.5% in August from a year earlier, beating July’s 7.2% increase and economists’ median forecast for 7.3% growth, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed Monday.
According to new research from liner analyst SeaIntelligence Consulting, the positive results were despite every line experiencing declining revenue and year-on-year volumes.
“Looking at the financial performance, the shipping lines have been able to navigate these uncertain times rather well,” said SeaIntelligence Consulting chief executive Alan Murphy.
“This has to be the result of a combination of cost-cutting and higher freight rates – nearly all carriers recorded a higher freight rate compared with the second quarter of 2019.”
Mr Murphy added that the second quarter was the first since 2010 in which all 10 carriers that publish financial results posted a positive ebit per teu, and revealed the surprising news that the formerly loss-making South Korean carrier, HMM, had made up substantial ground on the leading carriers.
While Hapag-Lloyd posted the highest profitability, at $146.40 per teu, HMM saw an ebit per teu of $129.10, marginally below Maersk’s $129.30 per teu. The least profitable carrier was Yang Ming, with $18.60 per teu, just below OOCL at $45.10 per teu and the latter’s parent company, Cosco, at $58.30 per teu.
“This is a very positive development for the shipping lines, as the pandemic did not impact container shipping to the extent initially feared,” said Mr Murphy. “Industry focus will likely now be on the third quarter, which is the peak cargo season.”
What remains open to question, however, is the extent ebit per teu was affected by the application of surcharges, which today were once more the subject of criticism from the UK’s British International Freight Association (BIFA).
China posted a trade surplus of $58.93 billion (Dh216.27bn) last month, compared with the poll’s forecast for a $50.5bn surplus and $62.33bn surplus in July.
China’s trade surplus with the US widened to $34.24bn in August from $32.46bn in July.
