Maritime CEO

Antong: The brothers who created the world’s 14th largest liner company

Antong Holdings, the parent group of Chinese domestic container shipping major Ansheng Shipping and logistics service provider Antong Logistics, is on a major expansion track as the company looks to develop itself into an integrated supply chain and logistics service provider. For those that have not been watching this low profile carrier’s growth – made more impressive, of course, with consolidation in the liner sector – Antong now controls the world’s 14th largest liner in the world.

Hailing from Quanzhou in Fujian province, Guo Dongsheng and his brother Guo Dongze started Ansheng Shipping in 2002 and Antong Logistics in 2005, and integrated the two firms into Renjian Group, which was named after their father.

In 2016, Antong Holdings joined the Shanghai Stock Exchange via a backdoor listing deal after the company joined the restructuring of chemical trader Heihua Group, and integrated all the shipping assets of Renjian Group.

Guo Dongsheng, president of Antong Holdings, says the company is now making efforts to complete its intermodal logistics network to provide comprehensive container logistics services.

This month, the company’s $473m fundraising plan was approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Under the plan, the company will use the proceeds for the development of two intermodal logistics bases in Tangshan and Quanzhou and the acquisition of twelve 644 teu feeder boxships.

The vessels will be built at three domestic yards – Fujian Southeast Shipbuilding, Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding and Nantong Xiangyu Shipyard.

“The two logistics bases in Tangshan and Quanzhou will further integrate different resources in the supply chain including bonded warehousing, cold chain, processing, financial service and information system, and eventually lower the logistics cost for clients,” says Guo.

According to Guo, there is still huge room for the development of intermodal container services in China, as the total sea-rail container transport volume only accounts for 1.5% of the total port container throughput in the country. He adds that currently Antong Holdings has development over 130 sea-rail transport routes covering all the major ports and their hinterland in China.

The company is also expanding its network further into inland rivers using container barges.

“The Belt and Road Initiative will bring huge opportunities for international logistics and the company will be well prepared when the opportunities come,” Guo says.

Antong Holdings has a wide range of vessel sizes ranging from 3,600 dwt to 60,000 dwt, which gives the companythe flexibility to reasonably deploy tonnage to diversified market demands.

“We have set a long term vision to develop an efficient and eco-friendly shipping fleet to ensure the sustainable development of the shipping business. In the meantime, we will keep all the business segments to create good synergies for each other,” Guo concludes.

The company reported a profit of RMB512m ($73.5m) in the third quarter of this year, representing a strong year-on-year growth of 39.93%.

This article first appeared in the latest issue of Maritime CEO magazine. Splash readers can access the full magazine for free by clicking here.

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