China Cosco posts loss of $841m in Jan-Sept

Chinese shipping giant China Cosco Holdings slumped to a massive nine-month loss of RMB5.25bn ($841m), Seatrade Asia online reports.

Hong Kong-listed China Cosco, active in the container, dry bulk and logistics sectors reported a nine month loss of $841m as it was hit by low freight rates and high bunker costs.

Volumes for its container shipping business grew 15.5% in the first three quarters of the year to 5.93m teu compared to a year earlier. Its dry bulk business decreased by 16.2% to 56.1m tonnes in the period compared to the previous year.

Not surprisingly China Cosco said it expected to make a loss for the year as whole. “Affected by imbalances between supply and demand, low dry bulk freight rates and continuously high bunker and other costs, the company forecasts a possible net loss for the whole of year 2012,” it said.