Indonesian boxship trade under pressure: Samudera

Regional carrier Samudera noted that conditions continue to be challenging in Indonesia's domestic boxship trades due to excess capacity, leading to a need for the company to rationalise charter capacity and to control operating costs more effectively.

Revenue from the Indonesia domestic container shipping busness for Samudera saw a 30.6% fall year-on-year to $10.8m in the third quarter ended 30 September 2013, and volumes handled declined 9.1% to 37,000 teu.

“Increased capacity as a result of new entrants into this market segment since the second quarter of the financial year affected freight rates and volume handled,” the company said.

“The group has rationalised both capacity and services in an effort to position itself more competitively. It is also continuously reviewing its vessel hire contracts so as to renew these contracts at lower rates, which should help to reduce its operating costs,” it added.

The Singapore-listed company posted a third quarter net loss of $239,000 as against a profit of $1.26m in the corresponding period of last year.

Revenue during the quarter fell 17.7% year-on-year to $97.43m on lower contribution from the regional and Indonesia domestic container shipping businesses.

The bulk carrier, offshore and tanker business, on the other hand, recorded a 2.6% increase in revenue to $15.3m.