OOCL blamed the poor results on lower freight rates amid tighter competition. "The operating environment in the first half of 2013 was characterised by the deterioration of freight rates from the last quarter of 2012, especially on the Asia-Europe trade, and the extremely competitive freight rates recorded in both the Trans-Pacific and the Intra-Asia trades. A series of rate increases during the second quarter in the market on the East West trades generally could not be sustained," the company said in an announcement.
Total liftings fell 1.5% while average freight revenue per teu for the period was $1,088, a decrease of 2.2% over the 2012 first-half average of $1,112 per teu. The drop in volume and the competitive freight rate environment resulted in reduced contributions, OOCL said.
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