Michele Majidi
Researcher
Hapag-Lloyd - statistics & facts
From the sun-kissed waterways of the Red Sea to the tropical tides of the Panama Canal, one freight forwarding company has become a longstanding figure in the world of container shipping, and that name is Hapag-Lloyd. The Hamburg based firm was established in 1970 through the merger of the shipping companies Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and North German Lloyd, a merger that has seen the Germanic firm become a leading competitor in today’s market. In 2024, Hapag-Lloyd ranked fifth in the list of the largest container ship operators, controlling seven percent of the global container ship fleet. Furthermore, as of May, 2023, the company was operating around 250 container ships with a capacity of roughly 1.8 million TEUs. However, with the current geopolitical landscape testing all manner of businesses worldwide, will Hapag Lloyd continue to be a major player in the world of shipping?
Whilst profits of the container shipping industry increased considerably during the pandemic, container lines continue to struggle with not only the economic situation of today, but also capacity utilization and punctuality. The average schedule reliability of leading container carriers dropped from 68.5 percent in January 2020 to 30.4 percent in January 2022, before bouncing back to 52.6 percent in January 2023. In January 2023, only about 39 percent of Hapag-Lloyd’s ships arrived at their destination on time.
A less than desirable financial situation for all
The record-high freight rates, whose rise began in mid-2020, have benefited container ship operators, including Hapag-Lloyd. However, In the fourth quarter of 2023, the leading container liners suffered from an average EBIT margin of minus three percent, a significant decrease compared to about 33.3 percent just one year earlier. In the first quarter of 2023, Hapag-Lloyd was earning nearly 1,700 U.S. dollars per TEU transported, up from just 138 U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2020. Unsurprisingly, in 2023, Hapag-Lloyd generated a revenue of about 17.9 billion euros, a considerable decrease compared to the previous year, suggesting a return to pre-pandemic level income.Whilst profits of the container shipping industry increased considerably during the pandemic, container lines continue to struggle with not only the economic situation of today, but also capacity utilization and punctuality. The average schedule reliability of leading container carriers dropped from 68.5 percent in January 2020 to 30.4 percent in January 2022, before bouncing back to 52.6 percent in January 2023. In January 2023, only about 39 percent of Hapag-Lloyd’s ships arrived at their destination on time.
