COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, the world’s leading ports logistics service provider, today announced the annual results of the company and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) ended 31 December 2023.
In 2023, the Group’s total throughput increased by 4.4% YoY to 135,808,554 TEU (2022: 130,107,074 TEU). Total throughput from terminals in which the Group has controlling stake decreased by 2.7% YoY to 30,762,095 TEU (2022: 31,627,734 TEU), accounting for 22.7% of the Group’s total, and the total throughput from non-controlling terminals increased by 6.7% YoY to 105,046,459 TEU (2022: 98,479,340 TEU), accounting for 77.3% of the Group’s total.
During the year, the Group’s total equity throughput increased by 3.1% YoY to 43,381,201 TEU (2022: 42,069,050 TEU). The equity throughput from terminals in which the Group has controlling stake increased by 0.7% YoY to 19,010,845 TEU (2022: 18,869,824 TEU), accounting for 43.8% of the Group’s total, and the equity throughput from non-controlling terminals increased by 5.0% YoY to 24,370,356 TEU (2022: 23,199,226 TEU), accounting for 56.2% of the Group’s total.
Total throughput of the terminals in China increased by 4.8% YoY to 103,065,210 TEU in 2023 (2022: 98,338,099 TEU) and accounted for 75.9% of the Group’s total throughput. Total equity throughput of terminals in China increased by 4.4% YoY to 30,679,108 TEU (2022: 29,382,264 TEU), accounting for 70.7% of the Group’s total equity throughput.
Total throughput of the Bohai Rim region increased by 8.0% YoY to 46,589,991 TEU in 2023 (2022: 43,120,988 TEU) and accounted for 34.3% of the Group’s total. Total equity throughput of the Bohai Rim region increased by 5.1% YoY to 12,571,882 TEU (2022: 11,958,004 TEU) and accounted for 29.0% of the Group’s total equity throughput. Dalian Container Terminal Co., Ltd.’s added several new international routes during the year, with its total throughput increased by 12.1% YoY to 4,906,861 TEU (2022: 4,377,050 TEU).
Total throughput of the Yangtze River Delta region increased by 4.2% YoY to 14,569,524 TEU in 2023 (2022: 13,986,956 TEU) and accounted for 10.7% of the Group’s total. Total equity throughput of the Yangtze River Delta region increased by 2.9% YoY to 4,093,259 TEU (2022: 3,976,608 TEU) and accounted for 9.4% of the Group’s total equity throughput. Shanghai Mingdong Terminal began developing marketing strategies in cooperation with upstream and downstream logistics chain partners, achieving a 10.5% YoY increase in throughput to 6,054,308 TEU (2022: 5,477,740 TEU). Wuhan CSP Terminal Co., Ltd. has experienced an increase in number of services and throughput since it operates in April 2022, and actively developed water-rail intermodal transport; its total throughput increased by 138.6% YoY to 158,596 TEU (2022: 66,469 TEU).
Total throughput in the Southeast Coast and Others region decreased by 6.9% YoY to 5,951,456 TEU in 2023 (2022: 6,392,128 TEU) and accounted for 4.4% of the Group’s total throughput. Total equity throughput of Southeast Coast and Others region increased by 16.5% YoY to 4,242,346 TEU (2022: 3,642,358 TEU) and accounted for 9.8% of the Group’s total equity throughput. The increase in equity throughput was mainly attributable to the company’s acquisition of a 30% equity interest in Xiamen Ocean Gate Terminal, in which the company now holds a 100% equity interest. Xiamen Ocean Gate Terminal fully utilized its role as the hub of the OCEAN Alliance in the Southeastern region, so its throughput increased by 0.3% YoY to 2,748,313 TEU (2022: 2,741,179 TEU).
Total throughput of the Pearl River Delta region increased by 0.4% YoY to 27,932,139 TEU in 2023 (2022: 27,817,027 TEU) and accounted for 20.6% of the Group’s total throughput. Total equity throughput of the Pearl River Delta region decreased by 1.7% YoY to 7,896,402 TEU (2022: 8,036,580 TEU) and accounted for 18.2% of the Group’s total equity throughput. The throughput of Yantian International Container Terminals Co., Ltd. increased by 3.5% YoY to 14,045,087 TEU (2022: 13,572,909 TEU) mainly due to a recovery in volume on routes to Europe and the US in the second half of the year.
Total throughput of the Southwest Coast region increased by 14.3% YoY to 8,022,100 TEU in 2023 (2022: 7,021,000 TEU), accounting for 5.9% of the Group’s total throughput. Total equity throughput of the Southwest Coast region increased by 6.0% YoY to 1,875,219 TEU (2022: 1,768,714 TEU) and accounted for 4.3% of the Group’s total equity throughput. The increase in total throughput and equity throughput was mainly due to the increase in trade between China and Southeast Asia, also benefitting from positive factors such as the construction of the new western land-sea corridor and the establishment of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), there are many opportunities for the high-quality development in the Southwest Coast region.
Total throughput in overseas increased by 3.1% YoY to 32,743,344 TEU in 2023 (2022: 31,768,975 TEU) and accounted for 24.1% of the Group’s total. Total equity throughput of overseas region increased by 0.1% YoY to 12,702,093 TEU (2022: 12,686,786 TEU) and accounted for 29.3% of the Group’s total equity throughput. As Piraeus Terminal continuously strengthened its marketing strategy and actively introduced new shipping services and increased volume from third-party customers, its total throughput increased by 5.4% YoY to 4,586,535 TEU (2022: 4,352,059 TEU). Driven by the development of new businesses, total throughput of CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal increased by 32.8% YoY to 1,353,215 TEU (2022: 1,018,668 TEU).
COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited is a leading ports logistics service provider in the world and its terminals portfolio covers the five main port regions and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America and Africa, etc. As at 31 December 2023, COSCO SHIPPING Ports operated and managed 371 berths at 38 ports globally, of which 224 were for containers, with an annual handling capacity of approximately 123 million TEU. COSCO SHIPPING Ports has adopted “The Ports for ALL” as its mission and is working towards building a global terminal network with controlling stake that offers linkage effects on costs, services and synergies, a synergistic platform that offers mutual benefits to all in the shipping industry, connecting global routes and becoming truly “the ports for all people”.