Hapag-Lloyd shines

Hapag-Lloyd, Germany's largest shipping company and number five in the global ranking of liner shipping companies, has received a strong tailwind from the coronavirus pandemic and was able to present a significantly improved result compared to the previous year. According to preliminary figures, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to around 1.3 billion euros. This includes one-off expenses totalling around 120 million euros. The increase in freight rates by an average of almost USD 50 per TEU compared to 2019 due to high demand and lower bunker prices played an important role in the good result. However, cost savings of around 500 million dollars also had an impact. Turnover increased slightly by three per cent to 12.8 billion euros, despite a reduction in transport performance of around 200,000 TEU to 11.8 million TEU. The shipping company, which operates 120 liner services worldwide with 230 container ships and a total capacity of 1.7 million TEU, intends to grow further. This is indicated not least by the recent order for six 23,500 TEU container ships, which are scheduled for delivery from spring 2023.

Text: Hans Jürgen Witthöft; Photo: Hapag-Lloyd