No Tianjin Impact, Says Cosco
China COSCO Holdings Company Limited says its operations at Tianjin port have been unaffected by the blasts that killed 114 people here also put a deep dent in the compact between China’s government and its middle class.
"Our assets have not been materially affected. Our vessels at the anchorages close to Tianjin Port were not affected by the incident and the ships and crews are safe," says a stock market announcement from the company.
There has however been some damage to land-based assets and some disruption of operations, although Cosco does not expect that to have any significant impact.
"The shapes of some containers (which are non-dangerous containers) were spoiled and a few employees were slightly injured. The Company believes that the above incident will not have any material and adverse impact on the financial conditions of the Company. The Company will continue to monitor the progress of the incident management, and investors are advised to take note of investment risks," says the statement.
"Until now, apart from part of the ship schedule and cargo loading for and in Tianjin Port which have been affected to a certain extent, the company’s production and operation have been carried out as usual, Cosco said.
Tianjin ranks 10th globally in container traffic, handling about 14 million twenty-foot-equivalent units, the standard measure for containers, according to Alphaliner, a research firm.
In 2008, China Cosco Holdings Ltd., a state-owned shipping line, established a new headquarters for its dry bulk shipping operations in Tianjin. The port imported 25 million tons of iron ore in the first half of 2015, or roughly 6% of China’s projected total imports this year, according to data analyzed by Lorentzen.
