German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has published its “extraordinarily strong” preliminary figures for its 2021 operating results.
The company’s EBITDA for the financial year increased to more than $12.8 billion, while EBIT also rose to roughly $11.1 billion.
These strong financial results are said to be driven by significantly increased freight rates resulting from a very strong demand for goods exported from Asia. This was influenced heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, major disruptions in the global supply chains caused by this mass surge in demand also led to a significant increase in transport expenses.
Revenues increased to roughly $26.4 billion from just $14.6 billion in 2020. This is said to be due to a higher average freight rate of 2,003 USD/TEU.
Transport volumes remained at a steady level, reaching 11.9 million TEU from 11.8 million TEU the previous year.
Hapag-Lloyd will publish its final 2021 Annual Report with the final financial figures with an outlook for the current financial year on 10 March 2022.
The company also has a branded train now travelling through Canada after its partner Canadian Pacific repainted one of its locomotives with the shipping line’s colours and logo.
