A review of earnings by container lifted shows a significant reshuffle in carriers’ comparative rankings over the past six months.
Alphaliner’s study of operating profit per teu (EBIT – earnings before interest and tax) for the first six months of 2024 shows HMM and ZIM moving to the front of the sample, earning the highest amount by container and overtaking Matson Inc which generated the highest figure over 2023.
HMM and ZIM made operating profits respectively of $390 and $364 per teu in the first half of the year, up from $150 and a loss of -$99 per box in the same period in 2023.
US-listed Matson posted a market-beating $334 per teu in 2023, having avoided the earnings collapse seen by most mainstream carriers in the second half of the year. However, the Jones Act and ‘expedited transpacific service’ specialist has fallen back to third place as of 30 June, as pure transpacific operators have surged ahead.
Taiwan’s Evergreen moves up from sixth to fourth place after logging a huge 29% year-on-year increase in volumes in the first six months of the year. This already helped the Taipei-based carrier to the highest operating margin for the first half of the year, as reported by Alphaliner in early September.
Source: Alphaliner
