HSBC warns COSCOand OOCL face $2.1bn hit from looming US port fees
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
09/11/2025
The looming US port fee regime aimed squarely atChinese-linked tonnage could saddle COSCO and its Hong Kong-listed subsidiaryOOCL with a combined bill of more than $2.1bn in 2026, according to freshcalculations from HSBC.
The US TradeRepresentative (USTR) is due to impose port fees from October 14, though thefinal rules remain unpublished.
Customs & BorderProtection is working on a collection tem, industry sources tell Splash. Analysts at HSBC caution that while their coremodels do not yet price in the fees, they illustrate how severe the cost burdencould be for China? state-backed giants.
HSBC estimates COSCO could be on the hook for $1.5bn nextyear, equivalent to 5.3% of consensus 2026 revenues, while OOCL faces a $654mbill ?7.1% of fore revenues. The fees are modelled at $600 per feu on a10,000 teu vessel.
COSCO and OOCL may lean on Ocean Alliance partners CMA CGMand Evergreen to front-load more Korean- and Japanese-built vessels on thetranspacific, HSBC suggested, while the Chinese lines shift tonnage elsewhere.Other options include routing cargo via Mexico, Canada, or Caribbean hubs,something that is already ning to happen with the two Chinese linesannouncing recent Mexico services.
Network reshuffles could also tighten capacity in the nearterm, HSBC warned, as operators hold onto older, non-Chinese-built ships.Nearly 93% of the 20-year-plus fleet falls into this category ?tonnage thatmight otherwise have been scrapped.
Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (OOIL), the listedentity of Hong Kong container line OOCL, conceded last month that October?likely introduction of extra port fees for Chinese-linked tonnage could bepainful.
OOCL noted in a release that the potential extra portges levied by the US on Chinese carriers will have a ?elatively largeimpact?
Global shipping, not just the container sector, isrealigning fleets in anticipation of October? extra port fees to be levied bythe US on China-linked tonnage.
This is already being reflected in tering decisions fortransatlantic tanker and dry bulk fixtures with Chinese-built tonnage shiftingto other parts of the globe.
