In previous years, the first quarter was the off-season for shipping, but this year’s off-season is too busy!
This is a message recently posted on the Chinese government website and a reply from the Ministry of Transport. In fact, it is also a common dilemma faced by the majority of foreign trade companies:
The freight price is one every day, and it is going up crazily;
If you are willing to pay the money, you may not be able to get it Cabinet;
The cabinet is guaranteed, but the ship may not be able to leave on time;
Finally arrived at the destination port, but the port was heavily congested. Can continue to line up on the sea;
……
Shipping, which was not a problem originally, became a problem starting from the third quarter of last year. Big problem.
According to statistics from shipping consulting agency Drewry, global container freight volume increased by nearly 9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021. The average value of China’s Comprehensive Export Container Freight Index (CCFI) was 1,960.99 points, which was 1,960.99 points compared with the previous year. An increase of 113.33% compared to the same period, and an increase of 56.8% compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year!
Not to mention that at the end of March, Evergreen’s container ship blocked the Suez Canal, the throat of Asia-Europe transportation. Vespucci Maritime, a Danish freighter company, pointed out that after the Evergreen grounding accident, it will take at least four to six months for global shipping to return to normal.
Currently, the freight from Shanghai to Felixstowe, the largest container terminal in the UK, is US$14,000 per 40-foot container, plus a US$1,500 deposit. Don’t even think about bargaining with the cargo owner. There is no store like this in this village.
So many foreign trade people said with emotion that this year they are not working for the boss, but for the shipping company.
Many shipping companies have recently released their first quarter financial reports, and many of them have achieved the highest performance in history, which is really enviable to others!
Maersk’s first quarter profit hit a record
On May 5, A.P. Moller-Maersk released the first quarter of 2021 financial report. The company’s performance has started 2021 exceptionally strong, with all business segments including shipping, port services and logistics achieving high earnings and growth.
Overall, first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased to $4.0 billion from $1.5 billion in the same period last year, with EBITDA ( EBIT) increased from US$552 million to US$3.1 billion, while revenue increased by 30% to US$12.4 billion.
It is worth noting that Maersk expects the current special market conditions – supply chain bottlenecks and shortages of boxes due to surge in demand – to last until the fourth quarter of 2021, and then return to normal.
COSCO SHIPPING Holdings earns 170 million per day
On the evening of April 29, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings disclosed its first quarter report for 2021. The profit exploded, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was achieved in the first quarter of this year. Profit was 15.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5200.62%. In other words, COSCO Shipping Holdings made an average daily profit of 170 million yuan in the first quarter.
In the first quarter of this year, revenue from Asia-Europe (including the Mediterranean) routes of COSCO SHIPPING Container Lines, a subsidiary of the group (COSCO SHIPPING Holdings and its affiliated companies), doubled, contributing significantly to the surge in COSCO SHIPPING Holdings’ performance. Data shows that Asia-Europe, intra-Asia, and trans-Pacific routes achieved revenue of 12.306 billion yuan, 9.661 billion yuan, and 8.935 billion yuan respectively, a year-on-year increase of 136.93%, 69.18%, and 75.70%.
Evergreen Shipping’s performance hit a record high again
Although its container ship blocked the Suez Canal and faced sky-high compensation, Evergreen In the first quarter of this year, shipping achieved the best quarterly performance in its history – Evergreen Shipping achieved revenue of NT$90.236 billion (approximately RMB 20.756 billion), a year-on-year increase of 108% and a quarterly increase of 39.4%.
The substantial growth in Evergreen Shipping’s revenue is mainly due to the strong import momentum from the United States, the surge in freight rates, and the simultaneous surge in freight rates from Asia to Europe. Last year, Evergreen Shipping had 44% Revenue comes from the Americas line, and 24% comes from Europe.
Evergreen Marine General Manager Xie Huiquan pointed out that the global port congestion problem is difficult to alleviate, and container space is in short supply. In particular, the US Westport is severely congested. With the arrival of the traditional peak season in the third quarter, it is expected that the congestion will be delayed until the third quarter. .
HMM turned a profit for the first time in 10 years
Thanks to the soaring container freight rates in 2020, South Korea’s HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) achieved Profitable for the first time since 2011. According to sources in the Korean securities industry on April 11, the operating profits achieved by HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) and SM Merchant Marine in the first quarter of this year are very likely to exceed the operating profits of last year. If this performance situation can continue, HMM’s operating profit for the whole year this year will exceed 3 trillion won (approximately US$2.68 billion).
Drury, a shipping consultancy, said that the container shipping market has never been so hot and the industry is currently at the peak of an unprecedented business upcycle. While Drewry expects freight rates to decline by 2022, it still believes shipping lines will manage to maintain high margins due to “favorable supply and demand growth trends coupled with skillful capacity management.”
Shipping companies are brewing a new wave of price increases
It is worth noting that under the current situation of “high fever” in shipping, shipping companies are A new wave of price increases is brewing – shipowners on the Trans-Pacific route are preparing to issue a significant freight increase notice (GRI), which will take effect from June 1.
MSC Notice of GRI Increase
Notice of CMA CGM increase in GRI
Notice of DB Schenker increasing GRI
Foreign trade textile company owners who have shipment plans, please inform each other and make early preparations !</p
