Hapag-Lloyd considers a rise of the hires absolutely essential



In the first trimester of this year the shipowning society German Hapag-Lloyd has reduced the losses regarding the correspondent period of 2012 archiviando the first three months of 2013 with liabilities clearly of -93,6 million euros on revenues for 1,651, 9 million euros respect to liabilities clearly of -132,4 million euros on revenues for 1,601, 5 million euros in the period January-March last year. The EBITDA has been positive for 24,0 million euros respect to a result negative for -21,1 million euros in the first three months of 2012. Operating result (EBIT) has been negative for -58,9 million euros respect to a EBIT negative for -103,0 million euros in the same period of 2012.

In the first three months of the 2013 fleet of portacontainer of the company container has transported cargo volumes 1.326.000 pairs to teu, with a progression of 0.2% regarding the correspondent period last year. The medium hire for teu has been pairs to 1.546 dollars, with an increment of +4.2% regarding 1.484 dollars in the first three months of 2012. Hapag-Lloyd has announced that in the first three months of this year the price of the bunker is piled medium to 627 dollars to the ton: "even if this figure is inferior regarding that last year of 667 dollars and therefore have alleviated the pressure a little - it has found the company - this want also to say that the prices of the fuel persistently remain elevated. At the end of the 2008 - Hapag-Lloyd has remembered - cost of a ton of bunker it was of about 150 dollars, less than a quarter of the current price".

"The marine transport of line - it has observed the president of Hapag-Lloyd, Michael Behrendt - has begun 2013 to a advanced level regarding that of 2012. However the competition remains extremely challenging. The hires are under an obvious pressure from April, in particular on the broken important East-West, and the competition is becoming more and more locked in the traffics for the Latin America. It is important - it has emphasized Behrendt - than the hires return to a reasonable and profitable level. This is absolutely essential and is in the interest of all those people, from the companies of navigation to the loaders, that they base own activity on a reliable operation of the field of the marine transport. We cannot afford - it has specified the president of Hapag-Lloyd - to repropose the nonexistent one last year peak season".

The program of increment of the rates, measure of which Behrendt it has evidenced the absolute necessity, already is started by the German company that yesterday has communicated the application of an exceptional General Rate Increase of 1.000 dollars for container teu for shipments from Asia to Europe and the Mediterranean ( on 14 May 2013). Besides the increase of the hires, Hapag-Lloyd has communicated that it has in program to put into effect other measures in order to reduce the costs with the objective to carry adjusted the EBIT for entire 2013 to a value of positive sign (in the first trimester of the year has been negative for -53,2 million euros).

The share compages of Hapag-Lloyd are constituted by the Albert Ballin consortium, that it possesses 78.0% of the capital stock of the shipowning society is that is constituted by HGV Hamburger Gesellschaft für Vermögens- und Beteiligungsmanagement (36.9%), Kühne Maritime (28.2%), SIGNAL IDUNA (5.3%), HSH Nordbank (2.9%), HanseMerkur Versicherungsgruppe (1.8%) and from a group of investor guided from M.M.Warburg (2.9%), and remaining tourist group German TUI with 22.0% of the capital, quota that TUI has the intention of yield.