Cosco Shipping Company Limited (Coscol) saw its first quarter profit virtually erased as the company cited a difficult operating environment in the global shipping market.

Net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 plummeted to RMB918,400 ($141,760), plunging 99.6% from the gain of RMB253.53m in the same period of 2015.

Shanghai-listed Coscol’s revenue decreased by 27.5% year-on-year to RMB1.36bn.

The heavy lift arm of state-owned Cosco Group, which has now merged with China Shipping Group,

“In the first quarter of 2016, global economic growth had been slow, international shipping market continued to stay depressed translating to low freight rates, resulting in lower earnings for the company” Coscol stated.