SOUTH Korea’s HMM has joined other Asian container lines in reporting a horrible third quarter in 2025 and offering a gloomy outlook for the rest of the year.
Late last week the carrier disclosed its Q3 operating profit had plunged by almost 80% year-on-year, although it noted that last year’s result had been boosted by shippers bringing forward shipments ahead of the US presidential election, while this year tariffs had driven volumes in the opposite direction.
HMM is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in the trans-Pacific trades but rates on all east-west routes have taken a hammering. The company explained that the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) averaged 1,481 points in Q3 2025, down 52% from 3,082 points a year ago, while rates for North American routes fell more sharply. Spot freight rates on westbound and eastbound US routes crashed by 69% and 63% respectively.
HMM posted 2.71 trillion won (US$1.84 billion) in revenue and 298.6 billion won in operating profit for the July–September period, and sales fell 23.8% on year.
Nevertheless, the carrier stressed its third-quarter operating margin stood at 11% percent, ranking among the highest of global shipping companies and higher than its 8.9% 2Q.
“Despite ongoing global instability and oversupply concerns, our cumulative operating profit through the third quarter remains strong at 1.14 trillion won,” HMM said. However, it warned that the fourth quarter is traditionally weaker and that ongoing trade uncertainties will likely exacerbate that frailty.
“We plan to optimize operating efficiency by adjusting ports of call and deployed vessels by route, actively attract high-margin specialty cargo such as refrigerated and oversized cargo, and improve profitability by developing new sales lanes,” HMM said.