Cosco Shipping International (Singapore) Positions Itself as an End-to-End Logistics Provider for Southeast Asian Growth

Mainboard-listed Cosco Shipping International (Singapore) transformed its business after selling its loss-making shipyard and shipbuilding operations in May 2017 to another subsidiary owned by its parent. Ten months later, in March 2018, the company entered the logistics sector by completing the acquisition of established logistics provider Cogent Holdings.

"Through M&A, we could quickly obtain resources such as warehouses, but more importantly, we could quickly acquire an existing operations team," Cosco Shipping International (Singapore) president and executive director Jiang Kai tells The Edge Singapore.

Today, Cosco Shipping International (Singapore) has established itself as an integrated logistics and supply chain solutions provider, forming part of a vertically integrated supply chain under parent China Cosco Shipping Corporation. Offering one-stop shipping and logistics solutions across Southeast Asia, the Singapore-listed company complements its parent's shipping operations and is positioned to capture growth opportunities as regional trade expands.

China Cosco Shipping Corporation was formed in 2016 through the merger of China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) and China Shipping Group Company, a consolidation that created one of the world's largest shipping groups. According to Jiang, China Cosco envisioned its Singapore subsidiary to become an "important" component of an end-to-end logistics service, with the Singapore business focused on developing integrated land logistics services across Southeast Asia as a future core business.

"Our parent's shipping companies handle the sea leg, and Cosco Shipping handles the land leg," explains Jiang, adding that this model is more "sustainable with greater market potential".

Cosco Shipping's current logistics business spans warehousing, container depot services, automotive logistics and transport management. For 1HFY2026 ended June 30, the company reported a 188% year-on-year rise in profit attributable to owners of the parent (patmi) to $7.57 million, on revenue of $96.8 million, up 6% year-on-year.

The logistics business, with Cogent as the main vehicle for delivering these solutions, contributed 88% of revenue, rising 6% year-on-year to $85.2 million. The other two segments — property management, and ship repair and marine-related services — contributed 1.3% ($1.27 million) and 10.7% ($10.4 million) respectively to total revenue.

The company's property subsidiary operates an office leasing business in Singapore, while its marine engineering subsidiaries carry out ship repair, inspection of life-saving and fire-fighting equipment, supply of ship stores and provisions, and fabrication of steel structures for ships and offshore platforms, both locally and regionally.

A stable base anchored on innovation and experience

Some 60–70% of Cogent's container storage business comes from within the China Cosco group, providing a stable revenue base, according to Jiang. "All business from internal customers is still contracted at market prices, but because we're in the same group, they won't easily go out to the market to choose another provider unless we are unable to serve them due to capacity constraints."

The remainder of this segment comes from external customers such as Hapag Lloyd, Maersk and CMA, among others. Contracts with third-party customers are typically one year long, with clauses ensuring sufficient time for the company to find new customers should a contract be terminated prematurely.

A key competitive advantage of the Singapore logistics business is its proprietary overhead container storage system — an award-winning design that uses overhead bridge cranes to stack empty containers up to 15 high on its rooftop container depot.

"This technology is very suitable for Singapore because land is extremely expensive, and stacking empty containers in the air is an efficient solution," says Jiang. Beyond greater storage capacity, the system also enables faster turnaround times for hauliers collecting and returning containers at the depot.

The design is regarded as so innovative that other container depots in Singapore have paid Cogent for the right to use it. Cogent itself deploys the design at the Cogent One-Stop Logistics Hub and its Jurong Island Logistics Hub (JILH).

Alongside the patented storage solution, another of Cogent's competitive strengths is its many years of accumulated experience in chemical logistics, notes Jiang. Cogent's customers include a large multinational corporation operating a major chemical plant on Jurong Island, as well as local chemical firms that use its dangerous goods warehousing solutions, which have earned a reputation for reliability and safe handling.

Doubling down on Jurong Island

Jurong Island, located southwest of mainland Singapore, is a major hub for the energy and chemicals industry, with more than 100 companies operating there. Cogent's JILH currently spans around 61,000 sqm and can handle 100,000 twenty-foot containers annually, maintaining over 90% warehouse occupancy since becoming operational in April 2021, according to Cosco Shipping.

To fund the expansion of JILH, Cosco Shipping raised around $272 million via a rights issue in 2025. The second phase of the facility is scheduled to open around end-2026/early 2027, adding 63,000 sqm of warehousing space and doubling the facility's capacity upon completion.

Cosco Shipping is "confident" about Jurong Island's prospects. "From our market outlook, we're optimistic about Jurong Island's chemical sector," says Jiang, adding that the company has been actively undertaking contract negotiations with existing and potential customers. "I can't give specific numbers before contracts are signed, but we are quite optimistic that once the government inspections are completed and we're allowed to start operations at year-end, we'll be able to fill up the new phase two capacity fairly quickly."

This confidence stems from sustained demand from the chemical businesses operating on Jurong Island. "Although geopolitical events like the Middle East crisis have sometimes caused disruptions in raw material supply or reduced demand, and new technologies are partially substituting traditional chemical raw materials, in the long term, chemicals remain the backbone of industrial manufacturing, with many industrial raw materials coming from chemical companies," explains Jiang.

"This analysis, plus multiple rounds of deep communication with customers that have grown together with us over many years, help us make a decision to expand JILH."

Upon completion, JILH will be the largest integrated storage and logistics centre not only on Jurong Island but in the whole of Singapore, affording flexibility in serving customers, notes Jiang.

Regional ambition

Cosco Shipping's long-term ambition is to become "the most trusted integrated logistics enterprise in Southeast Asia". The company currently has direct operations in Malaysia and stakes in logistics companies in Indonesia and Vietnam.

From 2020 to 2023, through Cogent, the company acquired five logistics companies in Malaysia. Following the acquisitions, continuous business restructuring and integration gradually improved the revenue and profitability of its Malaysian logistics business.

"At the end of 2025, our Malaysia business was still roughly at breakeven, because reorganising and restructuring involve time and cost," says Jiang. "But in the first half of this year, the business has shown a very strong growth momentum in both revenue and profit and I think we will be able to sustain this, because Malaysia has huge opportunities for logistics development."

On a broader scale, Jiang sees economic and trade growth in the region as an opportunity for Cosco Shipping. He points to the pace of growth in markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, noting their sizable consumer markets relative to Singapore.

"As manufacturing in these countries grows, the import of raw materials and exports of finished goods generate huge demand for logistics and shipping," says Jiang. These are exactly the development opportunities Cosco Shipping wants to capture in these countries.

Growing in Southeast Asia required a hub, and Singapore — as the trade and financial centre of Southeast Asia — was an ideal headquarters for such an endeavour. Jiang believes that once the Tuas Mega Port is fully operational, the island-state will cement its status as a maritime and trade hub, pointing to more business opportunities locally and regionally. Tuas Mega Port, the consolidation of Singapore's container terminals into a single location in phases, is part of the country's long-term plan to expand its container handling capacity.

"A large proportion of cargo only transits Singapore without being discharged into the domestic logistics system — containers are unloaded, re-consolidated, and re-loaded to ships bound for the rest of the world," he adds, noting that it is essential for Cosco Shipping to link its scope of services to the wider Southeast Asian economy for growth.

'One' Cosco Shipping

Jiang reiterates the importance and competitive advantage of being "one" integrated logistics and supply chain player. Using the Malaysian business as an example, he says the goal is to build one logistics enterprise capable of serving customers with different logistics needs, rather than five separate logistics companies all branded under the same corporate name.

"No customer wants to communicate with multiple companies and exchange data and information across them … they expect one interface, one system, one solution," reiterates Jiang. "Otherwise, we'd be eliminated by the market."

Asked what separates Cosco Shipping from its competitors, Jiang notes that the company has not only adapted in a timely manner to evolving customer and market changes, but is also able to resolve customers' logistical challenges through "efficient and reliable" execution. "By relieving their logistical worries, our customers can focus on growing their own business."

Jiang adds: "Cosco Shipping can integrate the maritime transportation resources of its major shareholder, China Cosco, as well as resources within China, and translate these advantages into contracts, revenue and profit.

"We believe that in five to 10 years, our logistics businesses in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia will continue to grow steadily."

Source: The Edge Singapore, republished by Hellenic Shipping News