Average operating margins for the container industry surged back into positive territory in Q1 2024, as capacity shortages created by the Red Sea diversions pushed carrier rates up by an average 27% vs Q4 2023.
The aggregate margin for the nine leading container carriers (companies reporting EBIT) reached +11.4%, a significant turnaround from the -3.8% recorded in the previous quarter (the first negative result for the industry in 5 years).
Rising rates, which promise to produce another set of outstanding, and even stronger, financials in Q2, lifted the collective operating margin to the highest level outside of the COVID era since 2010 (itself an unusually strong year with global trade boosted by post-2008 stimulus programmes).
Source: Alphaliner
