In the third quarter of 2014, China Shipping Container Lines （CSCL）,a Chinese container shipping company, posted net profits of CNY200 million, only CNY40 million affected by scrapping subsidies. The result was significantly more than what is expected.

On a month-on-month basis, their profits after deduction of extraordinary earnings in the third quarter is CNY196 million, while the second quarter and the first quarter respectively posted losses of CNY320 million and CNY160 million.

There are two main reasons for profits in the third quarter. The first is the increase of shipping rate and the second is the efficiency of cost control.

CSCL is expected to be profitable in the fourth quarter, with a conservative assumption of CNY230 million. Furthermore, with the large decline of 23% in oil price in the second quarter, the profit of the fourth quarter is quite likely to exceed the expectation.

Therefore, CSCL decided to revise up the earning forecast in 2014 and 2015 to CNY890 million and CNY1.54 billion, with an increase of 77% and 35%.

However, there still exist risks for the decline of oil prices may not reach the expectation.