ONE acquires equity interests in three terminal operators and plans to expand into Western United States and Europe
ONE announced at the end of last year that it would acquire equity interests in three terminal operators: TraPac, Yusen and Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG). After receiving regulatory approval, the transaction has now been completed.
ONE currently states that it has completed the acquisition of 51% equity interests in TraPac and Yusen Terminals on the US West Coast and 20% equity interests in RWG.
TraPac was founded in 1985 by Mitsui OSK Lines to operate a container terminal in Los Angeles. Today, the company also has a terminal in Auckland that provides ship loading and unloading services. Yusen Terminals has been operating at the Port of Los Angeles since the 1990s and is jointly owned by NYK and Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. TraPac and Yusen have a combined annual production capacity of 4.3 million TEUs.
RWG operates a highly automated container terminal in the Port of Rotterdam with an annual throughput of 2.6 million TEUs.
The acquisition is part of ONE's US$20 billion medium-term investment plan. ONE said that in addition to strengthening its business in North America and Europe, these acquisitions also ensure its throughput capabilities in key gateways.
“Container terminals are critical links in the supply chain and have the unique ability to mitigate the impact of operational disruptions. ONE will use these terminals to help customers cope with supply chain disruptions and improve service quality. In addition, these assets will enable ONE to provide customers with faster, More reliable service." said Hiroki Tsujii, Managing Director of ONE's Product and Network Division.
The terminal investment comes as the container freight industry adjusts to declining revenues due to high interest rates, inflation, rising energy costs and an oversupply of tonnage resulting from the delivery of a large number of new-build ships this year. It is reported that due to declining demand, ONE's freight volume from Asia to North America fell by 7.5% year-on-year from July to September. ONE expects full-year profits to plummet by 94% this year, from more than $14 billion last year to $850 million this year.
Despite this, ONE is still accepting new ship deliveries. As of the end of September, ONE had a total of 39 new ship orders. The world's sixth-largest container shipping company currently operates a fleet of 210 ships.