Cosco ship in San Francisco
China Cosco Holdings Co., Asia’s biggest shipping company by market value, said container lines will win a targeted increase in Asia-U.S. rates this year because of rebounding trade.
“We strongly believe that this year’s TSA rates goal can be achieved,” said a company executive. The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a group of 15 shipping lines, is seeking an $800 per 40-foot box rates increase on Asia-U.S. west coast routes in annual contracts starting around next month.
“China Cosco and other shipping lines may have broken even in the first quarter given how strongly the container-shipping market has recovered,” said an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co. in Hong Kong. “The concern is what will happen after the summer peak season because there is still a lot of new capacity entering the market.”