Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp, the world's third largest shipping line, posted a 167 percent jump in third quarter profit on Friday as freight rates stay high on strong exports from Asia, especially China.
While demand for container ships from Asian exporters will continue to outpace supply in 2005, concerns are mounting of a glut of new capacity that could hit the cargo industry in 2006, analysts say.
"This year, there has been virtually no slow season, especially with regards to trans-pacific trade," said a spokesperson for Evergreen, who declined to be identified.
Evergreen earned T$4.34 billion (US $130 million) in the July to September period, surging from T$1.63 billion for the same quarter last year, according to Reuters calculations based on the firm's 9-month results.
The results came after the end of Taipei stock market trade, during which Evergreen's stocks fell 5.57 percent to T$28.80 largely because China's surprise interest rate rise sparked investor concerns of a slowdown in Chinese demand.