ORIENT Overseas (International), the parent company of ocean carrier OOCL, reported significant increases in revenues and profits for the 2022 calendar year.

The company’ revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2022 was US$19.82 million, an increase of 18% on revenue in 2021.

The company’s profit for 2022 was US$9.97 million, an increase of 40% on the previous year.

In a statement, the company said the profits and cash flow that were generated in 2022 puts it in a strong position to fund its continuing program of growth and to fund its ongoing investment in information technology and digitalisation.

“For much of the first half of the year, the container shipping market endured the same conditions through which it had been persevering for the previous 18 months, with effective levels of supply being under immense pressure at the same time as demand continued to grow, albeit moderately,” OOIL said.

“The pressure on levels of effective supply had been caused by severe congestion at multiple locations around the network, and was most obviously visible in long queues of ships lining up to enter the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and, at times, in delays of two to three weeks for ships to enter some of the main ports on the East Coast of the USA

“The impact of the downwards pressure on effective supply caused by these disruptions far outweighed the effect of the increased nominal supply coming from massive deployment of additional capacity injected into the busiest tradelanes, and from the entry of new smaller competitors into key markets such as the Transpacific tradelanes. However, as the year progressed, it became increasingly evident that market conditions had started to change.”

OOIL said on the supply side, the shift of cargo away from the US West Coast helped to reduce the pressure on the ports and local supply chains and reduced congestion.

“Some of this change was driven not by fluctuations in underlying demand, but by deliberate steps on the part of some importers to avoid in 2022 some of the chokepoints that been at the centre of disruption in 2021, especially if there was potential for any additional disruption from possible labour disputes,” the company said.

“Initially, this helped to increase congestion on the US East Coast, but after some months, congestion there too, as also in Northern Europe and the major ports of Asia, started to abate. This significant reduction in congestion has already led to an increase in the effective level of supply in the market.”

The company said the outlook for the coming year is mixed, but it does not foresee any material change in the first half.

“The timing of any improvement depends on a long list of macro-economic factors as well as on the evolution of the relative growth of supply and demand. What is certain is only that there will be challenges ahead,” the company said.