Annual Report 2011 - Dr. August Oetker KG

Shipping Division
Following the powerful recovery of the world economy in 2010, the reporting year saw global growth continuing
with slightly lower dynamism. Shipping reaped the benefi t in the shape of rising volumes. However, the
downward pressure on revenue as a result of increasing overcapacity and a signifi cant rise in costs, especially
of fuel, posed problems for ship owners.
Hamburg Süd, which, together with the Brazilian shipping company Aliança as well as the tramp activities
operating under Rudolf A. Oetker and Furness Withy Chartering, forms the Shipping Division of the Oetker
Group, was unable to escape this development entirely. At some 3.1 million TEU (1 TEU = 20-foot standard
container), roughly 9 % more containers were transported in 2011 than in the previous year (2010: + 23 %).
Freight rates held stable compared with 2010. Due to the somewhat weaker US dollar on the average for the
year, the sales revenue from Hamburg Süd’s liner operations added roughly 6 % to approximately Euro 4.2 billion,
a gain slightly out of proportion to shipment volume. With the inclusion of break-bulk and product tanker
activities, the shipping group’s sales total increased to Euro 4,752 million, roughly 7.3 % up on the previous
year.
In the 140th year of its existence, the Hamburg Süd Group employed an average of 4,468 staff, about 9 % more
than in the previous period.
Given stagnating freight rates in tandem with a sharp rise in operating costs, the Hamburg Süd Group’s result
in 2011 remained below budget and fell short of the previous year. The 14 % rise in capital spending, in the
form of deposits and fi nal payments on ship newbuildings for the most part, could not be covered entirely
from operational cash fl ow.
Economic Environment
2011 was marked by the debt crisis in
Europe, the weakness of the US economy,
various natural disasters in the
Pacifi c region and political upheavals in
North Africa. Nonetheless, global economic
output (GDP) grew by some 4 %
(2010: 5 %).
Against this backdrop, container shipments
worldwide rose by approximately
8 % to around 150 million TEU. While
the major East-West trade lanes, especially
from Asia, showed below-average
development, shipments on Intra-Asia
and a number of North-South routes
posted double-digit growth rates.
Driven by an infl ux of newbuildings and
minimal scrappings, global slot capacity
increased by roughly 8 %. Making themselves
felt here were the adjustments
with which many ship owners had
attempted to reduce the infl ow of capac-
ity during the global economic and
fi nancial crisis of 2008/09.
The divergent development of capacity
and demand exerted strong downward
pressure on freight rates in the past year.
Between Asia and Northern Europe,
spot rates at times plummeted by more
than 60 % when compared with the
highs of 2010. Most carriers were unable
to push through peak season charges, or
did so for only an unusually short time.
Particularly high infl uxes of outsized
ships with a slot capacity of more than
10,000 TEU were recorded. These
vessels are deployed almost exclusively
on the routes between Asia and Europe,
supplanting mid-sized tonnage, which
then migrates to the North-South trade
lanes – such as from and to South America
– and there contributes to overcapacity
and downward pressure on revenue.
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