Container lines raked in massive profits in the third quarter as supply chain disruption and port congestion continued unabated.
Marcus Hand | Nov 15, 2021
South Korean line HMM reported net profits up a staggering 9239.2% in Q3 2021 at KRW2.27trn ($1.92bn), compared to KRW24.6bn a year earlier. With revenues up 133.7% to KRW4.02trn in Q3 2021, from KRW1.72trn during the same period of 2020, net margin stood at 56.5% in Q3 this year.
“Quarterly financial performance, including revenue, operating profit, and net profit all reached a record high in Q3 2021 primarily driven by increased freight rates and efficient fleet operation including twelve 24,000 teu containerships,” HMM commented.
Related: Container supply chain disruption set to continue through 2022
German line Hapag-Lloyd reported Q3 profit of EUR2.83bn ($3.24bn) compared to EUR252m in the same period in 2020. Profits for the first nine months of 2021 were EUR5.56bn, up from EUR538m a year earlier. Revenues rose in the first nine months of 2021 by around 70% to EUR15bn.
“Despite all the operational challenges, we achieved an extraordinary strong nine-month result. However, global supply chains are under enormous pressure, which further intensified during the peak season in the third quarter,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
Related: New record 81 containerships waiting outside LA/LB ports
Intra-Asia and feeder company Regional Container Lines (RCL) reported what it described as a “phenomenal” Q3 2021 profit of THB3.73bn ($113.9m) some 1,349% higher than the THB257m it made in the same period a year earlier. It is also represents a 17% growth over Q2 2021 profit of THB3.19bn.