HAMBURG: November 21, 2018. Hapag-Lloyd says its business strategy for the next five years will focus on quality improvement, selective global growth, digitalisation, a cost-saving run rate of US$300-$400 million and an EBITDA margin of 12 percent.

Now twice the size following its merger with part of CSAV and then UASC last year, the company says the industry has reached a ”turning point” with further consolidation by the largest players “less attractive due to decreasing incremental scale benefits”.

“Size is not the name of the game anymore, but customer orientation,” declared CEO Rolf Habben Jansen. “It is obvious that customers expect more reliable supply chains, so our industry needs to change and invest more. At the same time, we know that people are prepared to pay for value.

“Going forward, delivering value to get the most attractive cargo on board is at the heart of our new
Strategy 2023. To be number one for quality is the ultimate promise to our customers and a strong differentiator from our competitors,” he added.

Improvements to turn Hapag-Lloyd into a “more agile, dynamic and analytically driven organisation” include investments in digitalisation and automation with the goal of increasing its online business to 15 percent of the company’s overall volume in the next five years.

The company says it has ordered 10 Hybrid Ready Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) for installation on its Hamburg class vessels (13,000 TEU) during 2019 and 2020 to comply with the IMO2020 low sulphur regulation.

Hapag-Lloyd also has 17 new vessels in its fleet, which can be converted to use Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The company will retrofit one vessel of 15.000 TEU during 2019 and then test whether LNG is a suitable alternative to low sulphur fuel.