Domestic demand for iron ore and other raw materials has helped China’s largest shipping company weather a first-half decline in trans-Pacific container volumes, as the subprime crisis damped US consumer demand for Chinese-made goods.

China Cosco reported more than doubled net profits at Rmb15.12bn ($2.2bn) in the first six months of 2008 in spite of a 7.4 per cent year-on-year decline in the number of containers shipped across the Pacific to the US.