Hamburg Süd, COSCO Pacific see biggest ’08 volume gains

Hamburg Süd, CMA CGM and Hyundai Merchant Marine saw the largest percentage growth in container volume last year among the world’s largest ocean carriers, according to a report last week by the Dutch maritime consultant Dynamar.

The German carrier increased its volume 26 percent in 2008, to 2.7 million TEUs, while French line CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest by capacity and volume, saw its volume grow 16 percent to 8.9 million TEUs. Korean carrier Hyundai was the only other line to see double-digit growth in volume, 11 percent to 2.65 million.

The world’s two biggest lines, Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping co., saw volumes rise 1 percent and 5 percent, respectively with Maersk reaching 13.86 million TEUs and MSC handling 10.5 million TEUs.

Another Korean carrier, Hanjin Shipping, saw the biggest volume decline among the top 25, 8 percent to 3.9 million TEUs.

Overall, the top 25 carriers by volume handled 107.7 million TEUs in 2008, up 3 percent from 2007. However, total worldwide container trade expanded 8 percent, to 134.5 million TEUs, meaning the top 25 lines’ share dropped from 82 percent to 80 percent in 2008.

Among the world’s largest terminal operators, Dynamar reported that Hutchison Port Holdings maintained its spot at the top, handling 67.6 million TEUs in 2008, a 2 percent increase over 2007. Hutchison had a 13.6 percent share of the world container market at the end of the year.

In second place was APM Terminals, with 12.4 percent share and volume of 65.4 million TEUs, up 7.6 percent from 2007. PSA International was third, with 12 percent share, 63.2 million TEUs and a volume increase of 7.4 percent in 2008.

The biggest gainer was COSCO Pacific, which expanded its throughput 37.9 percent to 54.9 million TEUs, surpassing DP World as the fourth-biggest terminal operator in the world. DP World saw volume increase 8.1 percent to 46.8 million TEUs, with a share of 8.9 percent.

Overall, the top seven terminal operators (including sixth and seventh place Eurogate and SSA Terminals) handled 60.5 percent of global throughput.

Source: American Shipper