SIMIC

KOREA's leading carrier HMM, formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine, posted a 90 per cent year-on-year drop in 2023 net profit to US$754 million.

Still, HMM was able to post a $32 million operating profit that was accompanied by a fourth-quarter net profit of $225 million. Operating profit dropped 94 per cent to $483 million.



HMM's volume remained flat through the fourth quarter, with a late-December spike in the spot market following the Red Sea attacks on shipping having no effect on the carrier's average rate levels.



Still, HMM was able to post a $32 million operating profit that was accompanied by a fourth-quarter net profit of $225 million.



The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) in 2023 was 1,006 points on average, down 71 per cent from the average of 3,410 points in 2022.



HMM's volume remained flat through the fourth quarter, with a late-December spike in the spot market following the Red Sea attacks on shipping having no effect on the carrier's average rate levels.



All HMM vessels are avoiding the Red Sea and sailing around the southern tip of Africa, a disruption to transit times and schedules the carrier said was combining with Panama Canal restrictions to muddle daily ship transits.



"The slowdown in demand and the influx of new containerships led to the normalisation of the container shipping market, putting the freight rates in key trade lanes under downward pressure during 2023," said HMM.



Average rates for the year fell 66 per cent to $973 per TEU compared with $2,881 per TEU in 2022, and even though volume was up 2.8 per cent year on year at 3.78 million TEU. The declining prices pulled revenue for the year down 55 per cent to $6.3 billion.