Tokyo, Nov. 4 (BNA): Nippon Yusen and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Japan’s largest and third-largest shipping companies by sales, reported record quarterly profits on Thursday as they benefited from higher freight rates amid chaos in global supply chains.
Chaos in the global trading system, which threatens to derail recovery from the worst health crisis in a century, has provided a fortune for such companies as freight rates soared to their highest levels since 2008, Reuters reported.
“Port and inland congestion has not improved due to the shortage of inland transport drivers,” Nippon Yosen said in comments on the results for the three months to September 30.
Quarterly profit came to 260 billion yen, more than 25 times last year’s amount, according to Reuters calculations from the company’s first fiscal half profit announced Thursday.
This is the company’s highest quarterly profit, according to Refinitiv Eikon data going back to December 2002.
Kawasaki Kesen’s second-quarter profit increased nearly 14-fold to 144 billion yen from a year earlier, based on calculations from first-half results, also released Thursday. This was the largest number since at least June 2003.
This week, Maersk, which handles one in five containers shipped worldwide, said its quarterly profit tripled to nearly $7 billion and warned that port delays would extend into the new year.