Japanese carrier Ocean Network Express (ONE) has an “aggressive growth plan”to expand its fleet to some 3 mn TEU by 2030, a 66% increase from its current fleet of 1.8 mn TEU at a growth rate of 10% per year, container shipping industry data provider Linerlytica said in its latest weekly report. ONE will pour in some USD 25 bn in capital investments and an additional USD 10 bn in associated assets over the next five years, which may see it also transfer some of its assets to shareholders NYK, MOL, and K Line. The move “represents a belated attempt to regain market share, after successive years of sub-par growth,” Linerlytica said.
Who’s in the 3 mn TEU club? Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), AP Moller-Maersk, CMA CGM, and Cosco Shipping have capacity exceeding the 3 mn TEU mark, according to Lloyds List. ONE currently operates over 1.8 mn TEU, and has an additional 30% on order, meaning it needs to add 700k TEU over the next five to six years, not counting retiring ships, according to LLoyds.
Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba has called off an IPO for its Hong Kong-based logistics arm Cainiao, which was forecasted to raise as much as USD 1 bn, Bloomberg reports. Alibaba, which owns 64% of Cainiao, has announced plans to buy out the rest of the stock in the company held by employees and investors for USD 3.75 bn. The firm has chosen to postpone the transactions due to Kong Kong’s poor market conditions, but may revive the IPO should the market bounce back, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The company’s Q4 2023 earnings failed to meet expectations of a 5% y-o-y rise to its top-line, which is explained by the loss of market share to e-commerce competitors like Chinese tech company ByteDance Ltd, the outlet said.