TAIWAN's big container lines' suffered losses last year amid the slowing global economy led by the eurozone debt crisis and weak rates due to oversupply, reported the Taipei Times.

But Taiwan's third-largest carrier, Wan Hai Lines, focused on intra-Asia trades, outperformed the rest, posting a net profit of NT$32.31 million (US$43.1 million) year on year.

Compared with long-haul routes, rates on intra-regional routes were relatively stable last year, as Asia's emerging economies performed better than in the US and Europe.

Domestic container lines are looking to get back into the black this year by focusing on the intra-Asia. Yang Ming announced last week that it was expanding its service between China, South Korea and Australia to Southeast Asia to provide more customers with a better service.

Wan Hai also announced a US$150 per TEU rate increase on its East India services effective this week.

Meanwhile, Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan's largest container shipping firm by fleet size, reported a net loss of NT$3.68 billion, compared with a net profit of NT$17.77 billion in 2010, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Taiwan's second-biggest container line, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp, is also expected to post a loss for last year. Its net losses totalled NT$5.21 billion in the first three quarters, from a net profit of NT$10.45 billion in 2010.

Evergreen Group vice chairman Bronson Hsieh said last month that several global container shippers have cut rates in recent years to pursue a greater market share, seriously eroding the industry's profitability.

Global economic uncertainty, led by Europe's debt crisis, were major factors bringing down container shippers' businesses last year, Mr Hsieh said.