Count ZIM as another logistics bellwether that indicates this year’s peak shipping season will leave much to be desired, following in the footsteps of the Port of Los Angeles and rival ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd.

“We don’t expect a strong peak season ahead of us, and maybe the bulk of it is already behind us,” said Xavier Destriau, chief financial officer at ZIM in a second quarter earnings call Wednesday. He also anticipates weaker demand in the second half of 2025 that will put ongoing pressure on ocean spot freight rates.

More from Sourcing Journal

Destriau pointed to the reinstatement of container capacity on the trans-Pacific trade lane as a key pressure point, with the average freight rate for 40-foot container plunging 17 percent from the quarter prior to $2,958.

According to data from major indices including Drewry and Xeneta, freight rates out on the ocean are continuing their decline.

Drewry’s World Container Index decreased 4.3 percent to $2,250 per 40-foot container this week, marking the 10th consecutive week of dips. For weeks, the firm has held the belief that the supply-demand balance is expected to weaken in the second half, causing the rates to contract.

Xeneta, which recently acquired fellow maritime and supply chain data company EeSea, has also tracked more declines on the trans-Pacific routes into the U.S., with Far East-to-U.S. West Coast dips reaching 2.3 percent to $1,910 per 40-foot container and East Coast-bound containers seeing averages drop 1.9 percent to $3,009.

“With a continuing trend for increasing capacity on fronthaul trades and subdued ocean container shipping demand, spot rates will fall further in the coming weeks,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta. “Shippers should not fear peak season surcharges because, quite simply, there is no traditional peak season in 2025.”

Sand said shippers looking to sign new long-term contracts are caught between a rock and a hard place.

“They must balance where rates are right now, where they are likely to be in 2026 and how much of an impact the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea conflict should have on the rates they are paying on each trade,” Sand said.

Unlike Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, both of which saw ocean volumes increase 4 percent and 12 percent, respectively, ZIM’s volumes took a significant 6 percent hit in the quarter to 895,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Story Continues

ZIM CEO Eli Glickman said the company’s expanded presence in Southeast Asia as tariffs impacted cargo flow from China to the U.S. partially mitigated some of the volume concerns, but that it was “not sufficient to fully offset the shortfall.” Latin America was a top performer for the company, with volumes to and from the region increasing 10 percent.

The dip in overall volumes put a damper on revenues—and ultimately, profit—for the container shipping firm. Total revenues were $1.6 billion for the second quarter, down 15 percent from $1.9 billion in the year-ago period.

Net income was $24 million, compared to $373 million in the second quarter of 2024.

Given the liner’s exposure to weak trans-Pacific demand, ZIM forecasts flat volume year-over-year compared to 2024.

On a positive note, the carrier is raising the lower end of its full-year guidance, now expecting to generate adjusted EBITDA between $1.8 billion to $2.2 billion, rather than the initial $1.6 billion.

The company also anticipates it will maintain similar operating capacity on average to 2024. ZIM currently operates 123 container ships with a total capacity of 767,000 TEUs, two-thirds of which comes from the 46 newbuild vessels received during 2023 and 2024, and another 16 vessels the company owns.

Idle capacity has stayed below 1 percent for the past 18 months, Destriau said, noting that routing around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope continues to absorb substantial capacity.

Like many of its ocean carrier contemporaries, ZIM expects that sailings through the Red Sea will not resume this year amid safety concerns regarding ongoing Houthi attacks,

The ZIM earnings call followed the backdrop of a report that Glickman is teaming up with Israeli shipping magnate Abraham Ungar in a bid to take the ocean carrier private.

Israeli business news outlet Calcalist deal reported earlier in August that such a deal was potentially worth $2.4 billion range, or equal to roughly $20 per share.

ZIM remains the only major container shipping company that trades publicly on a U.S. stock exchange.