Hanjin’s first half volumes up, profit down

Hanjin’s first half volumes up, profit down    South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping today report first half net income of Won18.3 billion ($20 million), an 80.7 percent drop compared to Won94.8 billion in the same period last year, due to higher stevedoring, inland transportation, fuel and chartering costs.
   The Seoul-based carrier’s operating profit in the six months declined 41.4 percent to Won31.1 billion ($34 million). Hanjin’s first half revenue gained 9.5 percent to Won3.19 trillion ($3.46 billion) as a result of higher container volume, which was up 15 percent to 1.83 million TEUs.
   On the back of the rising box volume, Hanjin’s sales from container shipping improved 7.8 percent to Won2.64 trillion ($2.86 billion). Revenue from Hanjin’s bulk business rose 26.5 percent to Won518.3 billion ($563 million) despite a 9.2 percent volume decline.
   Hanjin said it expects to see sales and volume gains in both the Asia/Europe and Far East/North America container trades with the annual peak season starting in the second half, offset somewhat by the continuing rise in fuel and other transportation costs.
   'We will make our best efforts in reaching our annual targets by restructuring the container movement cost effectively, developing new Asia-to-Europe services where demand stays strong and by casting new vessels into our service lanes,' Hanjin said in a statement.