The container market recorded its highest quarterly cargo volume of all time in the third quarter of 2025, as carriers adjusted their shipments to avoid the deadlines for tariffs and port fees. Following this, the average operating margin of leading container carriers rose again.
As a result, the top nine carriers publishing EBITDA (earnings before interest and taxes) increased their operating margin this period to an average of 13.7%, from 9.9% in the previous period. Although profits and margins are down compared to the very high results of a year ago, they are still historically strong and well above expectations at the start of the year.
In total, the top 9 carriers achieved more than $4.3 billion in operating profit (EBITDA) this quarter. This brought the operating profit of the same 9 carriers for the January-September period to $12.7 billion.
According to Alphaliner’s data, Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines again ranked at the top of the list with a margin of 25.6%.
Evergreen and COSCO SHIPPING Group also maintained their second and third positions in the third quarter with margins of 22.7% and 20.9%, respectively.
Yang Ming fell from fourth to sixth place with a margin of 10.5%, showing little change from the previous quarter.
Japan’s ONE company improved its position with a margin of 6.3%, after ranking at the bottom of the list in the previous two quarters.
HapagLloydAG fell to the bottom of the ranking with a margin of 4.1%. The German carrier is working to reduce costs related to the new Gemini Cooperation and achieve significant operational savings.
Maersk reported the second lowest margin at 6.2% in pure line operations.
7SEAS
