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Maersk Line today reports that its net operating profit after tax during the second quarter of 2015 declined by $40 million, or 7.3 percent, to $507 million, compared to $547 million during the corresponding period last year.

Revenue of $6.3 billion was 9.2 percent lower than in 2014, primarily driven by the decline in the average freight rate to $2,261 per forty foot equivalent container unit (FFE), only partly offset by a volume increase of 3.7 percent to 2,484,000 FFE.

The freight rate decline was largely attributable to bunker cost savings being passed through to the customers and to deteriorating market conditions on the Asia-Europe trade, Maersk said.

Recognised freight revenue was $5.6 billion, compared to $6.3 billion last year. Other revenue was $617 million, up from $612 million in 2014.

Global container demand is expected to have grown between 1-2 percent during the second quarter of 2015 compared to last year. The soft market development was primarily due to weak imports into Europe, Maersk said.

Unit costs decreased by 13.1 percent to $2,246/FFE, benefitting from decreased bunker prices and the U.S. dollar appreciation.

Bunker costs

The average bunker price paid by Maersk Line - the world's biggest bunker buyer - during the second quarter of 2015 was $335 per tonne - down $244, or 42.1 percent, on the $579-per-tonne figure recorded during the second quarter of 2014.

During the first six months of 2015, the average bunker price was $346 per tonne compared to $580 per tonne during the corresponding period last year.

Maersk Line's average bunker price during the whole of 2014 was $562 per tonne.

Overall bunker costs decreased by 40.1 percent compared to the second quarter of 2014. Bunker efficiency remained on a par with last year at 902 kilogrammes/FFE (903 kg/FFE), Maersk said.