World News
Maersk Line Profits Soar on Cheaper Fuel, Efficiency
Maersk Line reports it increased its profit by 93 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2013, to $439 million, even as revenues fell 9 percent to $6.7 billion, thanks to a drop in costs driven by vessel network efficiencies and lower bunker prices.
The carrier's total fleet capacity decreased by 0.9 percent, and while volumes increased 2.1 percent, to about 2.2 million forty-foot-equivalent units (FFE), average freight rate fell 13.1 percent to $2,618 per FFE.
Average price paid for bunkers for the quarter fell to $589 per tonne from $696 per tonne in Q2 2012, a 15 percent drop, and the company also reduced its bunker consumption by 18 percent.
As a whole, profits for Maersk Line parent company A.P. Moeller Maersk fell 11 percent to $856 million for the quarter, while revenues dropped 8 percent to $14.2 billion.
Maersk Oil's bottom line dropped 47 percent year-over-year to $249 million, and the company's tanker division widened its loss to $274 million from $9 million in Q2 2012.
Maersk Line said it is revising its expected results for the full year upward, from "above" the 2012 result of $461 million to "significantly above" that baseline.
"Global demand for seaborne containers is expected to increase 2-3 percent in 2013, lower on the Asia-Europe trades but supported by higher growth for imports to high growth markets," the company said.
The improvement in Maersk Line's profits does not reflect overall economic trends, Group CEO Nils S. Andersen said in a video interview on the company website
"There is no global economic recovery visible in the figures," he said.
"What Maersk Line has done over the last years is they've systematically improved their competitiveness."
He said the carrier has done "significantly better" than competitors over the past three quarters.
Maersk Line has credited its energy efficiency initiatives with improving both its environmental record and its competitiveness in recent years.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 504.50 | 2.50 | 620.00 | 3.00 |
| Rotterdam | 456.00 | 1.50 | 621.50 | 2.00 |
| Houston | 476.00 | 7.00 | 624.00 | 1.00 |
| Fujairah | 496.50 | 2.00 | 713.00 | 2.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 526.50 | 0.50 | 712.00 | 0.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 483.00 | 2.00 | 644.50 | 0.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 570.50 | 1.50 | 751.00 | 1.00 |
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