Maersk says rates are at a 'reasonable level'
Monday, 23 August 2010
Maersk Line’s parent firm has admitted that container rates are now at a “reasonable level” and prices are likely to decline before the end of the year, after announcing a half-year profit of over US$1billion, writes Damian Brett.
The Danish shipping group, AP Moller-Maersk, said its container activities made a half-year profit of $1.2billion, compared to a loss of $995million during the same period last year, while revenues reached $12.4billion, compared to $9.4billion last year.
Earnings per transported feu before tax reached $364, while it made a loss of $261 per feu in the first half of 2009.
The increase in revenues and profits was attributed to a 31% increase in average freight rates, including bunker surcharges and an 11% increase in volumes. Cost cutting programmes had contributed to increased profits.
While the world’s largest carrier pointed out that rates were still below 2008 levels, it said it couldn’t see them increasing for the remainder of the year.
AP Moller-Maersk CEO Nils Andersen said: “The rates have reached a reasonable level now - a level that was quite usual in the past. What was absolutely abnormal was 2009.”
He added: “What is clear is that we will come out of the peak season, and the peak season surcharge will be removed and rates will be lower in Q4 than they are at present.”
Andersen also said it was not clear what volumes would be like in the final quarter of the year.
“That’s not meant as a doomsday warning, we are trying to say that our customers have very little visibility on their orders in the fourth quarter, so we have to wait a few months until we have a bit of clarity and until we know what is going to happen there.”
He added that it had been successful in implementing its peak-season surcharges (PSSs), despite forwarders saying that Maersk Line had struggled to push through PSSs.
Volumes between Asia and Europe increased by 5%, compared to the first half of 2009, volumes on the transpacific routes increased by 11% and volumes on the transatlantic and Africa routes increased by 4% and 12%, respectively.
