Eimskip have released their results for the year 2022. Vilhelm Már Thorsteinsson, CEO of the company, said the following: “We had a good fourth quarter, especially given traditional seasonality for the sector. The results for Q4 are driven by a good performance of the liner services with continued good demand in all trade lanes, especially in the Trans-Atlantic services which contribution increased materially from the previous year. To meet this demand, we chartered in an additional 700 teu vessel as of November, however around the same time we were hit by the engine breakdown of EF Ava which took six weeks to repair, affecting the capacity in the quarter.
"We saw a swift turnaround in international transportation markets in the quarter with a sharp decline in global freight rates. This put pressure on the margins in our international forwarding operations, especially in Asia, where we saw a decrease in contribution compared to the previous year, although the results are positive in a historical context.
Our emphasis on excellent customer service, operational focus and favorable market conditions for the greater part of the year, all contributed to the strong results for the year 2022 which is a record year for the Company. We have continued to develop logistics solutions in our container liner system under the “Fresh by Sea” umbrella where we offer tailored solutions for importers and exporters of perishable goods, a market that is projected to keep growing in the coming years.
It has been challenging to manage an international shipping and logistics company through the recent macro-economic turmoil. Rising inflation, slowdown in global demand and changes in the geopolitical landscape are among factors that we have to meet and adjust to at any given time. Our excellent team of dedicated employees around the world have shown resilience and resourcefulness in the unusual and volatile conditions that have marked the global economy over the past few years.
We are committed to our sustainability journey and among the milestones that we reached in 2022 is the completion of the shore connection project which allows us to electrically connect our largest container vessels in Sundahöfn, saving around 240 tons of bunker fuel per year. We continue to grow our fleet of electric vehicles and machinery and took delivery of a new electric harbor crane in the summer of 2022 and are expecting delivery of the first electric trailer trucks in our fleet in Q2 this year. I am proud of the step we took last spring, when we initiated an international leadership program, in an effort to develop a diverse group of prospective leaders within our company worldwide. A total of 75 employees from 14 countries graduated from the program in 2022, with an equal gender balance. The program has been a success with nine participants, including five females, already promoted to new roles.
Start of the year has been in line with expectations, where we saw a traditional slowdown in the beginning of January with volume in the liner system picking up as the quarter progresses. Export Iceland volume has been lower than anticipated, due to lower production of export commodities, while Import Iceland and Trans-Atlantic volume remains good. Recently, Trans-Atlantic freight rates have started to decrease and are currently at a similar level as same time last year. After a slow start of the year in the international forwarding operations, we are seeing an uptick in volume while freight rates remain on a level with Q4.”
For more information:
María Björk Einarsdóttir
Eimskip
Tel: +354 774 0604
Email: [email protected]
https://www.eimskip.com/