Hapag-Lloyd reports $80 million loss

Company sees sharp increase in volumes but lower freight rates and higher fuel costs.     Hapag-Lloyd had a loss of $80.1 million in the second quarter ending June 30 compared with a profit of $17.2 million in the second quarter of 2017.
    Revenue in the second quarter was $3.35 billion in the second quarter of 2018 compared with $2.63 billion in the second quarter of 2017.
   The company noted that its performance this year can only be compared to a limited degree with its performance in 2017 as the company had acquired United Arab Shipping Co. (UASC) on May 24, 2017.
    The  German container carrier moved 2,987,000 TEUs in the second quarter compared with 2,287,000 TEUs in the same quarter in 2017.
   But the average freight rate in the second quarter of this year was $1,010 per TEU compared with $1,072 per TEU last year in the second quarter. Average fuel prices, including both marine fuel oil and marine diesel oil, increased to $399 per tonne in the second quarter of this year compared with $312 per tonne in the same period a year earlier.
   The acquisition of UASC, higher costs for fuel, vessel charters and intermodal transport resulted in expenses for raw materials and supplies in the first half of 2018 being 57.4 percent higher than in the first half of 2017.
   Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer said, “For the remainder of the year, we see a slow but steadily improving market environment, but we recognize that there are still significant geopolitical uncertainties that could influence the market. This only reinforces the necessity to be able to react quickly when needed — and we therefore will accelerate some of our digitalization initiatives and finalize our new strategy until the end of this year.”