China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) will spend US$1.36 billion adding eight 13,296 TEU vessels to its fleet by 2012 as the mainland carrier continues its rapid expansion.

The Hong Kong-listed line ended the first half in a strong financial position, reporting a jump in first half net profit of 1,322 percent to US$152 million on the back of a dynamic container transportation market, robust China trade and the addition of more than 28,000 TEU capacity.

The market traditionally posting the biggest numbers for container carriers is the Intra-Asia trade, and it was no different for CSCL. Intra-Asia trade grew 45 percent over the same period last year, with CSCL handling 627,868 TEU in the first half.

The domestic China market grew 36.7 percent in the same period with 1.1 million boxes carried by the mainland’s second largest line.

Three 9,600 TEU vessels were delivered in the first six months, increasing the group's container capacity to 427,107 TEU.

Li Shaode, CSCL chairman, told investors that China's throughput had reached 52.53M TEU, a growth of 24% in the first half with sharp increases at mainland river ports.

He said global shipping capacity was set to grow by 15 percent this year but would be balanced by the offsetting influence of trade imbalances, longer trade routes tying up vessels and emerging markets absorbing excess capacity.