Thu 10 Aug 2023, 14:14 GMT

Hapag posts 11% drop in H1 bunker price


Bunker consumption dipped below 2m tonnes; fuel costs fell by $225m.


Hapag ship.
Image credit: Hapag-Lloyd

Hapag-Lloyd reports that its average bunker price fell year-on-year (YoY) by $78, or 11.1 percent, to $625 per tonne during the first half (H1) of 2023.

Bunker consumption in H1 for the German shipping line totalled 1.98m tonnes, which was down 6.6% on the 2.12m tonnes recorded a year earlier. The decrease was said to be due to lower transport volumes, the clearing of congestion in front of ports and lower vessel sailing speeds.

As a result, bunker expenses declined by EUR 225.5m, or 16.5 percent, to EUR 1,141.9m in H1 2023, down from EUR 1,367.4m in the prior-year period.

Hapag-Lloyd: Average Bunker Price (US$/mt), 2019-23

Year H1 Q2
2023 625.00 603.00
2022 703.00 793.00
2021 421.00 458.00
2020 448.00 360.00
2019 429.00 434.00
Hapag-Lloyd: Bunker Costs (EUR m), 2019-2023

Year H1 Q2
2023 1,141.9 519.5
2022 1,367.4 786.0
2021 725.3 403.5
2020 862.9 268.6
2019 822.2 427.6
Hapag-Lloyd: Bunker Consumption (MMT), 2019-23

Year H1 Q2
2023 1.98 0.95
2022 2.12 1.06
2021 2.11 1.06
2020 2.05 0.95
2019 2.20 1.10

Bunker consumption

Bunker consumption per slot (measured by average container slot capacity, annualised) dipped 10% in H1 to 2.18 tonnes. The improvement was due to efficiency measures and lower bunker consumption, Hapag explained.

Bunker consumption per TEU transported also decreased in H1 — by 3% to 0.34 tonnes.

As regards the consumption of low-sulphur bunker (MFO 0.1% and 0.5%, and distillates) and LNG, Hapag said the H1 figure dipped YoY from 88% to 83% due to the fitting of more vessels with scrubbers.

Key financial results

In its overall results, Hapag-Lloyd posted a H1 profit of $3,133m (down 66.9% on the $9,466m result recorded in H1 2022) and a Q2 profit of $1,102 (77% below last year's figure of $4,782m).

EBITDA of $3,775m in H1 represents a 65.5% drop compared to the previous year's $10,942m result. Second-quarter EBITDA decreased YoY by $4,239m, or 75.2 %, to $1,396m.

Revenue in H1 fell 42% YoY from $18,562m to $10,847m, whilst in Q2 the figure dropped 49.8% from $9,606m to $4,819m.

Transport expenses in H1 were 9.3% below the prior-year level, at $6,330m. This was said to be primarily due a lower bunker consumption price of $625 per tonne and lower demurrage and detention expenses.



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