China Shipping's 3rd-Qtr sales rise on cargo growth

China Shipping Container Lines Co., which operates the nation's biggest ocean transportation company, said third-quarter sales rose 25% as expanding trade increased cargo volume and sent freight rates higher.

Sales increased to RMB 7.78 billion (US$962 million) in the three months ended September, Shanghai-based China Shipping said in a statement published today in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, without providing profit figures. The company said it carried 1.2 million 20-foot boxes, 21% more than last year.

China Shipping, Evergreen Marine Corp. and other Asian shipping lines are moving more cargo at higher rates as the region's exports of electronics, clothing and other goods to the U.S. and Europe increase. About 80% of global trade is carried by sea.

The average shipping rate in the third quarter rose 3.1% to RMB 6,461 for each 20-foot box from a year earlier, China Shipping said. The company and 11 members of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement began collecting on Oct. 1 an inland surcharge on boxes they move to Asia to help cover higher fuel and trucking costs.