Intra-Asia carriers report heavy losses due to falling freight rates

TWO of the main shipping lines operating intra-Asia container shipping services, Thailand's Regional Container Lines (RCL) and South Korea's STX Pan Ocean, have suffered losses in the third quarter that were blamed on deteriorating freight rates.

RCL posted a third quarter 2012 net loss of US$8.7 million, down from a net profit of $800,000 in the second quarter.

The carrier recorded an operating loss, excluding asset disposal gains, of US$7.3 million during the reporting period, down from an operating profit of $2.2 million the preceding quarter.

The poor performance came despite liftings rising by seven per cent to 593,000 TEU compared to the previous quarter.

Another carrier to see red ink was intra-Asia operator STX Pan Ocean which posted an operating loss of 7.2 million in the third quarter from container shipping operations. In the second quarter it had achieved an operating profit of $2.5 million.

The shipping line's consolidated operating loss for the third quarter hit $35 million, with its dry bulk and tanker shipping units also reporting operating losses of $21 million and $11 million, respectively.

Alphaliner reported that the carrier's consolidated net loss for the quarter reached $88 million, bringing total aggregate losses in the first nine months of the year to $276 million.