Evergreen Marine Corp, which has been battered by falling freight rates due to a prolonged supply glut, may swing into profit this year as market conditions improve in the global shipping industry, reports Taipei Times.
The paper quoted Capital Investment Management Corp as saying that Evergreen is expected to post profit of NT$689 million (US$22 million) for this year, compared with an estimated loss of NT$5.65 billion for last year.
Signs the container shipping industry had bottomed out gradually surfaced toward the end of last year, as rising operating pressures began to force carriers to exit markets or cooperate among them, the report said.
Evergreen Marine consumes 2 million tonnes of fuel annually, the report said, adding that each US$10 movement in the price of fuel would affect the company’s earnings per share by about NT$0.17.
The firm is expected to continue to add to its total shipping capacity of 550,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEU) with new cargo vessels in the next two years, the report said.
Evergreen Marine is to add five leased 14,000 TEU ships to its fleet this year, as well as take delivery of six 2,800 TEU vessels to replace obsolete ships, it added.
Next year, the company is scheduled to take delivery of 10 2,800 TEU ships, as well as two 18,000 TEU vessels, the report said.