COSCO Shipping Com a specialized equipment carrier under China's top shipper, said that its net profit rose by 84.3% YoY in 2007 on surging transport demand fueled by the booming foreign trade.

The Guangzhou based COSCO in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said that its net profit reached CNY 1.07 billion (USD 150.7 million) from CNY 583 million in 2006. Operating revenue climbed to CNY 5.33 billion in 2007 up by 38.3% YoY. It said that about 60% of the revenue came from shipping by multi purpose vessels.

Revenue from export shipping surged 44.2% YoY to CNY 2.55 billion, while revenue from import shipping rose by 3.24% YoY to CNY 816.4 million.

It said that the company's transport capacity could not meet the market demand as emerging economies such as China and India boosted the sustained and fast development of the international shipping market. It forecasted that demand will remain strong this year with steady growth in the world economy and trade, despite the lingering sub-mortgage crisis and rocketing international oil prices.

COSCO Shipping currently operates a fleet of 82 vessels, with a total capacity of 1.33 million DWT. In 2007 it signed shipbuilding contracts for eight multi purpose vessels with a carrying capacity of 28,000 tonnes each and two 50,000 tonnes semi submersible heavy lift vessels.