HMM has increased its container handling volumes to 1.93 million TEU in H1 2021, an 8.4% increase on H1 2020 levels.
The Korean shipping liner surpassed H1 2020’s volumes of 1.78 million, forecasting that the global supply chain will “remain strained” due to congestion at major ports, vessel and container shortages, and increases in cargo demand.
“The spread of coronavirus variants and insufficient vaccination programmes in some countries can have put consistent pressure on global trade, causing considerable uncertainty,” HMM wrote.
In its financial results, HMM recorded its highest ever operating profit, with a 98% revenue growth in H1 2021. The company’s revenue was KRW 5334.7 billion in H1 2021, compared to KRW 2688.3 billion in 2020.
The carrier reported net profits of KRW 210.5 billion for Q2 2021, a 649.1% increase on Q2 2020’s levels.
To accommodate strained global capacity, HMM is acquiring newly-built containers, consisting of 120,000 TEU of dry units and 4,600 TEU of refrigerated units to alleviate the current shortage of equipment.
Of the dry units, around 98,000 TEU have been delivered, while HMM started to take delivery of refrigerated units.
All dry and refrigerated containers will be added to HMM’s container fleet within this year.
