Herperot: The crisis in liner shipping will not end immediately
Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of Happerot, said the company was doing all it could to tackle the biggest operational crisis in the shipping industry.
Rolf Habben Jansen, the company's chief executive, wants to see the container market return to normal after the company forecast strong profits by 2020.Returning to a sustainable mode of operation is crucial to the healthy development of the liner shipping industry.The container market will continue to face challenges in the coming weeks due to soaring freight rates, port congestion and a continuing shortage of containers.
At its annual press conference on February 18, Herperot said the shipping industry is currently weathering an "operational crisis" of soaring demand, container equipment shortages, the Covid-19 outbreak and low inventories.
While higher spot rates will benefit shipping companies in the short term, in the long term it is important that container shipping returns to normal and moves as much of each container as possible on a more sustainable and competitive basis.
Rolf Habben Jansen said the outbreak had led to the biggest "operational crisis" in the shipping industry for years.Mainly due to the growth of trade demand, transport allocation and container equipment shortage.
Shippers in the spot market have been hit by expensive shipping charges and trips that don't arrive on time.Shippers are increasingly seeking long-term contracts with liner operators.
Rolf Habben Jansen expects market pressures to intensify further in the first quarter of this year: "But we are likely to see a normal peak season because stocks have been depleted in many places."
The surge in freight rates led Heberot to raise its 2021 EBITDA earnings forecast sharply, well above the $3bn forecast for 2020.Jefferies, the investment bank, estimates that Heberot's earnings could be 44 percent higher, to 3.95 billion euros ($4.78 billion).
However, Rolf Habben Jansen said the first half of 2021 will remain challenging as port delays continue to have a significant impact on schedule reliability.Port productivity is still affected by Covid-19 due to high transport demand and low inventories.Port congestion will continue to affect the reliability of schedules, with delays averaging several days at some ports in Asia and the Pacific.
In fact, the backlog of goods cannot be made up by speeding up the ship, the February and March shipping schedule will be affected.The container shortage may be resolved before other problems emerge.
At the same time, Happerot has deployed 52 ships as additional transport vessels to redeploy empty containers.Herberot has shifted production to regions with strong demand, such as Asia and Europe.At the same time, cargo has been rerouted to avoid congestion at the port, and Hapelot is also trying to delay repair and maintenance of old containers.
"All our ships are at sea," said Rolf Habben Jansen. "We have not reduced capacity since September, instead we are trying to charter additional vessels.In fact, soaring leases and $60-a-barrel oil have pushed up operating costs.The current market is seen as a temporary phenomenon rather than a structural change in liner shipping."
