Maersk scores major Q1 turnaround

Maersk scores major Q1 turnaround    Danish ocean carrier Maersk Line on Wednesday reported a staggering return to profitability in the first quarter of 2010, with the line earning $234 million in the period compared to a loss of $457 million in 2009.
   Revenue in the first three months increased 23.3 percent to $5.7 billion, while container volume rose 20 percent to 1.8 million TEUs. The line also saw rates per TEU increase 18 percent to $2,863 from $2,424.
   Fuel costs, however, rose markedly from a year ago, from $252 per ton to $471 per ton this year. The line said the higher average rate could be chalked up, in part, to higher bunker surcharge recovery. Excluding fuel costs, Maersk said its costs per container fell 9 percent from the same period in 2009.
   'During 2010, the container shipping market has been positively affected by growing demand, primarily due to restocking in the USA and Europe and, to a lesser extent, growing consumer demand,' Maersk said. 'Combined with a continued significant number of vessels taken out of service, the rising volumes led to increasing freight rates in the first quarter. At the beginning of the second quarter, rates have stabilized on most routes and vessels taken out of service are increasingly being reintroduced into service.'
   Maersk said that transpacific rates in the first quarter were still too low, but that the line secured better rates in the contracting season that just finished.
   'The transpacific routes were negatively affected by the low rate levels on contract cargo during the first quarter of 2010,' the line said. 'Considerable rate increases and reasonable volume coverage have been achieved for the contract season as at 1 May 2010.'
   Maersk also warned the industry not to introduce too much capacity too soon.
   'Despite improved market conditions, there is still a need for tight management of the capacity,' the line said. 'By the end of the first quarter of 2010, the group had taken 17 vessels with a capacity of approximately 72,000 TEUs out of service, returned three vessels under financial leases and scrapped two older, smaller container vessels.'
   During the period, Maersk added only two vessels, with total capacity of 5,000 TEUs. Its containership fleet, the biggest in the world, stands at 2.1 million TEUs.
   Maersk terminal operating subsidiary APM Terminals saw profit rise 48.9 percent in the first quarter to $131 million. Revenue for APMT rose 2.3 percent to $1.1 billion, while volume handled at its terminal rose 7 percent to 7.6 million TEUs.