Xu Lirong to Head Merged Giant COSCO-CSG
The current chairman of China Shipping Group (CSG) Xu Lirong handed top job at $74.7bn Beijing-backed merged entity of CSG and China Cosco Group. Xu Lirong has been appointed chairman of China Cosco Shipping Group, according to statements posted by the two groups on their websites Monday. Xu is a shipping veteran and served in senior positions at Cosco for more than 30 years before joining China Shipping (Group) as president in 2011. He was promoted to chairman in 2013. Xu' counterpart at Cosco, Ma Zehua, hits retirement age later this year and is expected to step down. Cosco Group Executive Vice President Wan Min will become president of China Cosco Shipping Group. China's State Council approved the establishment of China Cosco Shipping Group Ltd.
ABS Exec Speaks at World Shipping Summit
ABS announced its participation in the World Shipping (China) Summit 2015, November 5-6, in Guangzhou, China, where ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Technology officer Howard Fireman spoke about changes in the global shipping industry. In his presentation in the morning Shipping Outlook Session on November 6, Fireman shared his view of the issues industry will be addressing over the next few years. "Nobody can deny we are navigating through a challenging period in our industry," he said, "and this scenario will likely continue for some time.
Cosco Bulk Shipping Losses Down in 2014
China Cosco said losses in its main dry bulk shipping business fell sharply in 2014 and its container shipping gross profit grew amid a still subdued global shipping market. The comments were made by the firm's chief financial officer, Tang Runjiang, at its results briefing in Beijing on Friday. Cosco Chairman Ma Zehua said the company was cooperating with state rival China Shipping in areas such as ports and domestic container shipping and said he had no information on how the firm might be affected by Beijing's plans to push forward a new round of industrial consolidation. China Cosco posted a 54 percent rise in full-year profit on Thursday, helped by government subsidies which amounted to 1.74 billion yuan. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Brenda Goh
Cosco Profits Boosted by Low Fuel Prices
China Cosco Holdings ended 2014 in profitable territory, growing its net earnings by 50 percent to $56 million on the back of cost cuts, improved revenue and lower bunker fuel prices. The company, the flagship unit of state-owned shipping conglomerate China Ocean Shipping (Group) Corporation, in 2013 reported a net profit of 235.5 million Yuan ($37.7 million). A company stock exchange filing said various measures had been taken to increase revenues and cut costs as the imbalance between supply and demand in the international shipping industry showed no substantial improvement in 2014. Ma Zehua, chairman of the board of Cosco Group, said earlier that the group had achieved around $400 million savings in fuel bills last year compared to the previous year…
China's COSCO Group Returns to Profit
China Ocean Shipping Group Co (COSCO) returned to profit in 2014 after three years of losses, state media said on Saturday, citing an interview with the group's chairman. The state-backed shipping conglomerate, which controls China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd , had a profit of 5.04 billion yuan ($809.26 million) last year, said Ma Zehua, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Operating revenues were up 2 percent year-on-year, said Xinhua without providing a figure, while COSCO's asset to liability ratio fell 4.4 percentage points to 55.4 percent at the end of 2014. COSCO is now targeting annual profitability of between 4 and 5.5 percent by 2020, said Xinhua. On Monday, the group said it had received a $1.75 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China with which to buy 53 new ships.
COSCO Chairman Expects Shipping Slump to Persist
The global shipping market is unlikely to see a recovery during the next two years as it grapples with an oversupply of vessels, the chairman of China's largest shipping group said on Wednesday. The sector has been battling overcapacity since the 2008 financial crisis because new vessels ordered before the downturn have flooded the market, dragging down rates and hitting Chinese ship builders hard. Ma Zehua, the chairman of China Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO), told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Chongqing that the firm was focusing on cost control…
China Ocean Orders Four VLCC's
COSCO Group has ordered 4 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) from China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). The ceremony was attended by Chairman Ma Zehua, President Li Yunpeng, Chief Financial Officer Sun Yueying, and Executive Vice President Ye Weilong of COSCO Group, as well as President Li Changyin, Executive Vice President Dong Qiang and Executive Vice President Sun Bo from CSIC. COSCO inform that managers and executives from relevant departments and subsidiaries of the two companies also attended the ceremony.
COSCO Says Vale Giving its Bulkers the Cold Shoulder
Cosco says Vale shuns Its vessels because of China's ban on Vale's mega-ships Bloomberg News reports that China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., the nation’s biggest operator of dry-bulk ships, has said Vale SA (VALE3) was refusing to use its vessels in protest over a Chinese Government ban on the Brazilian miner’s mega-ships. The state-owned company, known as 'Cosco', expects a “big” impact on operations from the boycott and it’s considering filing a complaint with China’s Ministry of Commerce, President Ma Zehua stated in Beijing. Vale, the world’s biggest iron-ore producer, has shunned unit China Cosco Holdings Co.’s fleet for about two months, even if it meant using more expensive ships from other owners, Ma Zehua said.
