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Hapag-Lloyd:
profit bonanza
Photo: Christian Charisius/ picture alliance/dpa
A widespread lockdown came into force early Monday morning in some districts of the Chinese economic center of Shanghai.
According to analyst Alex Irving from Bernstein Research, the metropolis with the world's busiest container port is the most sensitive place imaginable for global supply chains.
As the expert emphasized, normalization of the situation is becoming a distant prospect this year.
Irving expects freight rates to continue to rise.
The steep increase in freight rates has brought record profits to shipping companies for months.
Shipowners are awash with money, and the prospect of continued high prices is driving stock valuations higher.
Hapag-Lloyd shares climbed more than 6 percent on Monday and reached a record high of 360 euros.
Hapag-Lloyd's stock market value has more than doubled within a year.
Investors are not only investing in Hapag, but also in the Danish market leader Moeller-Maersk.
Shares in the container shipping company rose 5.4 percent in Copenhagen.
Analyst Mikkel Emil Jensen from Sydbank also confirmed that the lockdown for the Chinese economic metropolis of Shanghai speaks against an early easing of the supply chain problems and for further rising prices for goods transport.
The profits at the shipping companies created a buying mood in the entire logistics sector.
Deutsche Post DHL shares gained more than 2 percent.
The restrictions on the supply chains in the pandemic and tight freight capacities have been considered significant price drivers for air and sea freight for two years.
la/dpa
