The COVID-19 pandemicis clouding the year of 2021. All industries around the world have suffered a huge blow, especially the international trade.

The words "soaring price" can adequately describe the current situation of the global shipping market, Sea freight rising, congestion charge increasing,  surcharges and shipping costs increasing rapidly....  In the first half of 2021, the shipping industry has seen a significant breakthrough in profits compared with previous years.

Cosco Shipping Company

Earning $37.1 billion !  Cosco's first-half profits surged 31 times  

On August 30, the container shipping leader Cosco Shipping Company disclosed the 2021 semi-annual report.  From January to June 2021, the company achieved operating revenue of 139.264 billion yuan, up 88.06% compared with the same period last year.  Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was about 37.098 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 3162.31%;  Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 37.02 billion yuan, an increase of 4096.43% year-on-year  

It is worth mentioning that in 2020, CoSCO Achieved operating revenue of 171.259 billion yuan and net profit of 9.927 billion yuan.  In other words, the company's net profit for the first half of 2021 was 3.7 times that of the whole of last year.  

In the first half of 2021, the revenue of COSCO's container shipping business reached 136.438 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 90.59%.  Gross margin increased 29.65% to 38.29% from the same period last year.  During the reporting period, the company's dual-brand container fleet completed cargo volume of 13.840,900 TEUs, up 16.84% year-on-year.  Among them, COSCO Shipping completed 9.914 million TEUs of cargo volume, up 15.83% year on year;  Ooec completed 3.926,800 TEUs of cargo volume, up 19.48% year on year.  

COSCO said that in the first half of 2021, the world economy gradually recovered, but showed a marked trend of differentiation and imbalance.  The global logistics supply chain is challenged and impacted by multiple factors such as port congestion, container shortage and inland transportation delay. The relationship between supply and demand of container shipping market is tight, leading to the rising freight price.

Maersk

Record high!  Maersk posted record first-half net profits of $6.5bn  

Maersk reports second-quarter results of  2021.  In the second quarter, the company continued strong growth, with record quarterly profits and its 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.  

Second-quarter revenues rose 58 per cent to $14.2bn, while underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to $4.1bn.  Net income was $3.7 billion in the second quarter and $6.5 billion in the first half of 2021.  Return on invested capital (ROIC) was 23.7% over the past 12 months.  

After Maersk adjusted the full-year 2021 performance forecast. it is expect actual EBITDA of $18 billion to $19.5 billion, actual EBITDA of $14 billion to $15.5 billion, and free cash flow of at least $11.5 billion.  

CMA CGM  

24 times!  CMA CGM's second-quarter net profit rose more than 24 times  

On August 27, CMA CGM announced its results for the second quarter of 2021.  During the reporting period, the company achieved revenue of 12.4 billion US dollars, up 77.2% year on year, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $4.6 billion, up nearly 280% year over year;  Net profit in the second quarter was about $3.5 billion, up 2,458 percent year on year.  Net profit for the first half of 2021 is about $5.5 billion.  

Container shipping segment revenue achieved $10 billion, up 89.4% year on year;  EBITDA was approximately $4.3 billion, up 329.6% year over year.  

During the same period, container cargo volume reached 5.7 million TEUs, up 19.1% year on year and 4.4% from the first quarter of 2021, especially on trans-Pacific, Latin America and intra-regional routes.  In addition, the average revenue per case reached $1,756 /TEU.  CGM said the group's performance was also supported by a strong performance in the container shipping sector, driven mainly by higher volumes and revenue per case.  

CMA expects such performance to continue into the first half of 2022 as it continues to strengthen and upgrade its shipping logistics network. Besides, it is expected that performance will be further improved in the second half of 2021.