Understanding the Market | COSCO SHIPPING Energy rises over 8%, plans to raise 8 billion yuan through a placement to update its fleet; crude oil production increase is expected to drive oil transportation demand

COSCO SHIPPING Energy rose more than 8% in early trading, and as of the time of writing, it has increased by 5.3%, trading at HKD 8.74, with a transaction volume of HKD 133 million. In terms of news, on September 8, COSCO SHIPPING Energy announced that it plans to issue A-share stocks to raise no more than 8 billion yuan, which will be used to invest in the construction of 6 VLCCs, 2 LNG carriers, and 3 Aframax oil tankers, in order to optimize the fleet structure, enhance capacity, and strengthen the company's competitiveness. It is reported that currently, COSCO SHIPPING Energy's tanker fleet is aging severely, with the average age of the tanker fleet reaching 14 years by the end of July 2025, and the capacity clearing has reached a critical point. In addition, OPEC+ recently finalized its next round of production increase plans. Industrial Securities pointed out that this time OPEC+ confirmed the start of the next round of production increases, although the monthly increase is lower than the previous round, its behavior of maintaining production increases under low oil prices itself sends a strong signal to the market that it "values market share over price" and is determined to increase production in the long term. As a result, crude oil prices are expected to be further suppressed, fully stimulating effective demand and driving tanker transportation demand into an upward cycle