Freight container maker Singamas set to report 40-fold profit jump for 2021 after Covid-19 grounded aeroplanes

Name: China’s freight trains to Europe hit all-time high amid coronavirus crisis in 2020
Uploaded: 2022-01-17T07:02:17.000Z
Duration: 1 min 49 s
Description: China’s freight trains to Europe hit all-time high amid coronavirus crisis in 2020

The Hong Kong-listed company said its profit in 2021 could top US$180 million, compared to US$4.58 million a year earlier

The shipping container industry benefited as the pandemic grounded airborne freight carriers around the world

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The shipping container industry benefited as the pandemic grounded airborne freight carriers around the world. Photo: AFP

Daniel Ren

Published: 3:02pm, 17 Jan 2022

Singamas Container Holdings, which makes dry-freight shipping containers, is expected to report a nearly 40-fold jump in profit for 2021 as a disruption to the global supply chain ushered in surging demand for its products.

The Hong Kong-listed company, a unit of Singapore’s Pacific International Lines, said in a filing to the stock exchange on Monday morning that its annual profit in 2021 could top US$180 million, compared to US$4.58 million a year earlier.

The positive profit alert, a result of booming ocean transportation since mid-2020 as air freight ground to a halt, was in line with expectations because shipping and container companies were among the top beneficiaries of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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China’s freight trains to Europe hit all-time high amid coronavirus crisis in 2020

“The past one-and-a-half years were the golden era for shipping and container companies as the coronavirus pandemic enabled them to raise prices,” said Lu Ming, an agent at Shanghai Ocean Shipping Agency. “Indeed, no one [in the shipping industry] could have expected such a big windfall before the disease outbreak.”

Singamas said in the filing that the profit surge was driven by growth in container demand and average prices.

The company’s performance “improved significantly in 2021 with a significant increase in sales volume as well as gross profit margin,” it said. “The company also recorded a fast-growing demand for customised containers, especially for those related to renewable energy and environmental protection.”

Its shares surged 19.8 per cent to HK$1.21 (16 US cents) in morning trade on Monday.

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