South Korean shipping company HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) released a performance report for the first quarter of this year. The company achieved operating profit of 1019.3 billion won (approximately US$905 million), a record high for the same period in history, and also exceeded 980.8 billion for the whole of last year. South Korean won (approximately US$875 million) operating profit. This is the result of rising global ocean freight rates and increased shipping volumes. HMM's strategy is to receive eight 16,000 TEU-class ultra-large container ships and put them into operation before the end of June this year, expanding the company's fleet to 900,000 TEU, and further enhancing its competitiveness in the global container shipping market. According to the report, HMM achieved operating income of 2,428 billion won (approximately US$2.156 billion) in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 85%; realized operating profit of 1019.3 billion won, which turned into a surplus compared with the loss of 2 billion won in the same period last year; realized the current period Net profit also turned into a surplus year-on-year, at 154.1 billion won (approximately 137 million U.S. dollars). HMM said that the company achieved operating profit of 980.8 billion won last year, a record high, and it exceeded this value in just one quarter this year. If this situation continues, it is expected that HMM's full-year operating profit this year will exceed 3 trillion won (approximately 2.68 billion US dollars), a new high. The South Korean industry pointed out that after being hit by the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the first half of last year, global ocean freight and transportation continued to rise in the second half of last year, which played a great role in the improvement of HMM's performance. In the first quarter of this year, HMM's container shipping volume increased by 7% year-on-year. In particular, with the increase in freight rates for Asia-America routes, and subsequent increases in freight rates for Asia-Europe and other regions, the market has been greatly improved. To this end, HMM has formulated refined improvement plans such as ensuring good cargo owners, improving operational efficiency, and reducing transportation costs, and strives to build a global shipowner's level of competitiveness. A person from HMM said: “Thanks to the active support of citizens, government agencies and creditor groups, the company’s performance has been improved. In the future, we will also fulfill our responsibilities as the most representative shipowner of South Korea.” According to HMM's plan, from March to the end of June this year, 8 16000TEU-class ultra-large container ships ordered by Hyundai Heavy Industries will be accepted and put into operation in the Asia-Northern Europe route, and strive to provide continuous and stable capacity services for the maritime market. . In addition, HMM will also adopt a customer-centric differentiated shipping service policy, further strengthen internal strength through management innovations such as the improvement of the Internet system, and improve the business system, so as to improve the company's efficiency. HMM also revealed that since the second half of last year, sea traffic has soared, and the shortage of space, centered on the Asia-American route, has continued to appear. It is difficult for Korean domestic export companies to secure space. For this reason, HMM has invested a total of 24 temporary ships on routes from South Korea to the West Coast and East Coast of the Americas, Europe, Russia, and Vietnam since August last year. The relevant person of HMM emphasized: "At present, the company plans to use all possible means to continue to invest in temporary ships. As the most representative shipping company in South Korea, we will do our best to ensure the smooth transportation of goods from South Korean export companies with a sense of responsibility." Disclaimer: This news is reprinted from other media. The purpose of posting this article on this website is to convey more information, and does not mean agreeing with its views, and is not responsible for its authenticity. Article content is for reference only