China COSCO Gets Subsidy to Scrap, Upgrade Its Fleet

Hong-Kong listed shipping and logistics company China COSCO Holdings Co (CCHC) received on July 18 a subsidy amounting to CNY 189 million (USD 28.3 million) from China COSCO Corporation, the indirect controlling shareholder of the company, for the decommissioning and upgrading of its vessels.

The company said the subsidy will be recognized as a non-operating income and will be included in the profit and loss for this year.

China COSCO Holdings reported in April a major rise in its net loss from CNY 1 billion (USD 154.1 million) seen in the quarter ended March 31, 2015, to CNY 4.5 billion (USD 690 million) in the corresponding period this year.

The loss was mainly attributed to a weak demand in the container shipping market as the company’s container shipping business recorded a loss of approximately CNY 1.4 billion. The loss was also assigned to the disposal of 100 percent equity interests in China COSCO Bulk Shipping Co., and 100 percent equity interests in Florens Container Holdings Limited, as well as to an imbalance of supply and demand in the dry bulk shipping market and low levels of freight rates, which affected the company’s profit.