Hanjin Shipping Co., South Korea’s largest container line, expects a return to profit on its biggest routes as an economic recovery in the U.S. revives demand for Asian-made goods. “The bleeding will stop as of May,” the company’s CEO said in an interview. “We were losing so much money on transpacific trade.”
Hanjin has secured about 90 percent of its target for rates increases in new annual contracts and the company plans to introduce peak-season surcharges about four weeks earlier than usual as demand rebounds. Industrywide traffic on transpacific routes may rise 10 percent this year and faster on Asia-Europe lanes, provided the European debt crisis doesn’t spread to major economies such as Spain, Kim said.