German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has reported a more than tenfold rise in profits over the past nine months, citing record freight rates amid scarce transport capacity and robust demand.
The company attributed the surge in profits mostly to higher freight rates driven by “persistently high demand for container transport” coupled with scarce transport capacity.
Average freight rates have jumped 66 percent to $1,818 per 20-foot equivalent standard container units (TEU) in the January-September 2021 period compared to the same period last year.
“This unfortunately also creates additional operational burdens for carriers, ports, and terminals—but, most importantly, for customers worldwide,” Jansen said.
Jansen said his company would do “everything in our power” to help resolve logjams at ports and other transportation bottlenecks “through targeted investments and flexible capacity management.”
On an earnings call, Jansen told analysts that higher efficiency could ease waiting times at ports and help alleviate some of the supply snarls.
“There is a lot that still can be done in terms of efficiency, not only on the terminal side but also the ability to deliver boxes to customers,” Jansen said on the call.
“That would allow us to get rid of some of the congestion,” he said of the disruptions resulting from unexpected demand spurts, labor shortages, and traffic snarl-ups amid the coronavirus pandemic.
