China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has posted a 51.5 percent decline in revenue to RMB8.92 billion for the first half of 2009 compared to the same period in 2009.

Shipping volume dropped by 11.4 percent to 3.18 million TEUs over that of the same period in 2008. Net loss attributable to equity holders of the company for the period amounted to RMB3.41 billion.

The group has adopted various stringent cost control measures to lower the costs. The total costs of services for the first half of the year were RMB12.07 billion, representing a decrease of approximately 29.8% as compared with the same period last year.

Container costs decreased by 35.2% as compared with the same period last year. This was mainly due to the group’s increasing efforts in container management, such as using the group’s ability to allocate its resources in a flexible manner, repositioning containers back to the Far East from Europe and the U.S where storage cost was higher, and further enforcing termination of container leases.

Port charges and stevedore charges decreased by 32.3% as compared with the same period last year. This was achieved through various measures adopted by the group, such as cutting back tran-shipment lanes, reducing port calling, tran-shipment loading and unloading, as well as negotiating actively with port operators to reduce the relevant expenses.

For the period from July to August, the cargo volume and freight rates of each trade lane enjoyed a different degree of rebound.

CSCL said the trend of the global economy and the shipping market are still uncertain. Given the current market situation and recent performance of surrounding economies as well as the successive launch of various policies which aim at developing Shanghai as a financial and shipping center, the group believes that along with the economic recovery, the liner industry will gradually get out from the trough. (EHL)