(Yicai Global) March 30 -- China International Marine Containers Group’s net profit halved last year from the year before amid weak demand for shipping containers, but business should improve in the second half, The Paper reported today, citing the chief executive officer of the country’s biggest shipping container manufacturer.

CIMC’s net profit plunged 51.7 percent last year from the historical high reached in 2021 to CNY3.2 billion (USD460 million), below 2020 and 2018 levels, according to the Shenzhen-based company’s financial report released on March 28. Although revenue sank 13.5 percent year on year, it was still more than before the pandemic.

Business should get better in the second half as peak season arrives, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mai Boliang said at the earnings call yesterday.

“Although orders in the first half are still just one-fifth of the orders we get in normal years, demand for other types of boxes such as reefers remains normal and we expect demand in the second half to be at least twice that of the first six months and to return to over half that of a normal year,” Mai said. No specific figures for the coming year were given.

Global container trade is expected to log negative growth of -1.2 percent this year from the year before but capacity will jump 6.7 percent, according a forecast made by market research firm Clarksons in March.

“Although CIMC’s sales of dry containers declined and revenue sank in 2022, the unit price remained stable, staying above USD2,100 per twenty-foot equivalent unit at the end of last year,” said Wu Sanqiang, secretary of the board of directors. The firm sold 1.1 million TEU of dry containers in 2022, accounting for 29 percent of global sales, a slight increase in market share.

In 2021, CIMC logged its highest ever net profit and revenue thanks to a booming global shipping industry which drove up demand for shipping containers. Last year, demand dropped back to normal, but CIMC still remained the number one producer in the world.

CIMC has been studying the shift of the global manufacturing industrial chain to Southeast Asia from China for a long time, Mai said. However, because the raw materials, technologies, patents and equipment for container manufacturing are in China, the firm is not expecting any significant changes in the next five to 10 years.

CMIC’s shares on the mainland [SHE:000039] closed up 1.7 percent at CNY7.40 (USD1). In Hong Kong, its stock [HKG:2039] closed flat at HKD5.26 (USD0.67).

Editor: Kim Taylor