The world's top maker of shipping containers, China International Marine Containers (CIMC), posted a 39.78 percent surge in first quarter revenues as the global marine economy thrives.

And the giant is primed to make its trailer business another engine for profit in the coming years.

Revenues in the January to March quarter stood at 3.98 billion yuan (US$481.2 million) as its staple business saw increases in both prices and sales.

The Shenzhen-based firm also announced its net profit increased year-on-year by 77 percent to 184.7 million yuan (US$22.3 million).

Analysts predicted bullish activity with regard to the company's full-year performance, saying a global upturn and CIMC's lead in container manufacturing should keep its growth on an even keel.

The company attributed the large increase in container production and sales to the robust import and export market in China and the increasing demand for containers in the international market.

The price increase for steel, the main material used in containers, did not put much of a dent in the company's revenues, CIMC said in its first-quarter report.

"The average steel price in China rose 40.9 percent year on year in the first quarter," it said. "However, the price of containers also surged at a large pace compared with last year."

For the first quarter, CIMC sold a total of 283,000 TEU (twenty-feet equivalent unit) containers, up about 20 percent year on year.

Almost all of CIMC's containers were exported.

While maintaining its leadership in containers, the company is eyeing the lucrative trailer production market.

Experts say trailers will become the prime moving method in the next five to seven years, replacing the traditional open van.

CIMC has established trailer production bases in East China's Jiangsu and Shandong as well as Shanghai and Shenzhen in South China.

The company's latest moves include the purchase of a 51 percent stake in Huajun Group, one of China's biggest trailer makers.

"CIMC is considering making more big moves to explore the trailer market," said Jiang Wen, the company's spokeswoman. But she declined to provide further details.

(China Daily May 11, 2004)