Hong Kong's Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), a Cosco unit, produced intra Asia cargo gains in the first quarter that dwarfed all other categories, the company revealed.

Overall, OOCL enjoyed a slight 1.7 per cent year on year increase in first quarter liftings to 1.96 billion TEU while suffering a more substantial 7.6 per cent decline in revenue to US$2.31 billion.

Only intra Asia/Australasia trades grew in all categories in Q1 year on year with liftings rising 2.9 per cent to 954,464 TEU producing a 0.7 per cent revenue increase to $7.4 billion.

First quarter transpacific cargo volume declined 5.9 per cent year on year to 523,385 TEU, producing $7.44 billion in revenue. Transatlantic cargo was down 1.3 per cent to 133,910 producing $1.62 billion in revenue.