Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd: Container bookings from China to the United States surge by 50%

After China and the United States lowered tariffs on each other, the business volume of shipping giants soared. Recently, shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd stated that after the easing of trade tensions between China and the United States, container bookings from China to the United States have surged by 50% in recent days. During the earnings call on May 15th, Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said, "We expect capacity to quickly recover. We had deployed smaller vessels instead of canceling sailings, but we will soon reverse this strategy. In the coming weeks, we will deploy larger vessels again, and other companies may also increase capacity during the quarter." Habben Jansen also confirmed that thanks to the simplified Gemini alliance network with Maersk, the increase in vessel size can be achieved without causing significant disruption and "will not substantially change overall costs", and there are currently no issues with container misalignment. Previously, according to CCTV, data from the VesselsValue global shipping order tracking system showed that as of the 14th Eastern Time in the United States, container shipping bookings from China to the United States have surged by nearly 300% after the change in US tariff policy towards China. Strong Q1 Financial Performance Hapag-Lloyd's first-quarter financial performance was strong, with profit increasing by 45% to $469 million, and revenue increasing by 15% year-on-year to $5.3 billion. This was mainly driven by a 9% year-on-year increase in shipping volume, marking the highest year-on-year growth rate in recent years. The liner shipping revenue reached $5.2 billion, with a transport volume of 3.3 million standard containers (TEU), and an average freight rate of $1,480 per standard container, both of which increased by 9% year-on-year under strong demand. Despite the strong performance, Hapag-Lloyd faced several operational challenges during the quarter, including continuously moving vessels from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope route, as well as interruptions at various ports. Furthermore, Hapag-Lloyd stated that due to various geopolitical and economic factors, there is uncertainty in demand trends for the remaining time of 2025. This article is from "Wall Street News"; GMTEight Editor: Li Fo.