COSCO celebrates 50th anniversary in Beijing

On 27 April, a gala celebration for the 50th Anniversary of COSCO was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The celebration was attended by more than 1,000 guests, including the Guest of Honour Tung Chee Hwa, Vice Chairman of CPPCC; Chen Jinhua, former Vice Chairman of CPPCC; Richard A. Lidinsky Jr., Chairman of Federal Maritime Commission of the US; and COSCO’s clients and business partners from all over the world.

During the celebration, a global service map was lighted on the backdrop screen by Captain Wei Jiafu, Executive Vice President Zhang Fusheng and other six honourable guests including Tung Chee Hwa, Chen Jinhua, Qiang Weidong, Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Committee of SASAC, Xu Zuyuan, Vice Minister of Transport, Richard A. Lidinsky Jr., Li Dongxu, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Central SOEs. The honourable guests extended their best wishes to the future of COSCO Group as a key player in the maritime industry.

On behalf of the Chinese Government, Qiang Weidong and Xu Zuyuan addressed the ceremony respectively, expressing their congratulations to COSCO’s 50th anniversary and speaking highly of COSCO’s achievements in the past 50 years. Representing COSCO’s key clients and partners, Zhang Xiaogang, President of Angang Steel gave his formal remark at the ceremony.

Chairman Lidinsky presented to Captain Wei an Award of Merit Certificate in recognition of COSCO’s outstanding services and contributions to the US importers, exporters and consumers. Zhang Fusheng, Executive Vice President of COSCO Group, announced the list of 50 Best Employees and the 50 Best Subsidiaries of COSCO.

Captain Wei and Zhang cut the anniversary cake and expressed their wishes for COSCO’s future as the flagship in the world shipping industry.

COSCO posts Q1 loss on slumping shipping rates

Reuters: China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd., flagship of the country’s No.1 shipping conglomerate, posted a net loss of 503.3 million yuan ($77.3 million) in the first quarter as shipping rates slumped amid a supply glut.

China COSCO, which operates the world’s largest bulk cargo fleet and is the No.5 container shipper globally by capacity, returned to the red after a profitable 2010, but the loss was below an average forecast for a 617 million yuan loss from three analysts polled by Reuters.

This compared with a net profit of 882.6 million yuan in the same period last year, the company said on Thursday in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange.

Overcapacity, especially in the dry bulk market, knocked the company’s first-quarter revenue down 6 percent to 16.4 billion yuan, although China’s imports and exports rose 33 percent and 26.5 percent, respectively in the January-March quarter.

The Baltic Exchange’s main Baltic Dry Index .BADI, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities such as grains and iron ore, hit a two-year low of 1,172 in February.

It edged up 0.7 percent to 1,259 on Wednesday, way below the breakeven level of 2,500 estimated by CICC.

China COSCO said its container shipping volume rose 12 percent in the first three months of 2011 while revenue added 3.8 only percent.

The appreciation of Chinese yuan and fuel price increases also ate into the company’s margins.

Its container leasing and terminal operating arm, COSCO Pacific Ltd., reported a first-quarter net profit of $109 million, down 18 percent.