Chris Bryant, Columnist

The Container Shipping Industry Is Raking It In — for Now

Amid the supply-chain upheaval, Zim has struck paydirt. Has a value-destroying industry finally changed its spots?

January 13, 2022 at 7:00 AM UTC

Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies in Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for the Financial Times.

A crane lifts a ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. branded shipping container dockside at the Port of Haifa in Haifa, Israel.
Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg

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The financial transformation of the container-shipping industry has been astonishing: Almost overnight, operating box ships has become a license to print cash.

Following an initial public offering last year, one of the top container lines is now listed in the United States: Zim Integrated Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. Like peers, the Israeli carrier is swimming in money, much to the delight of key investor Deutsche Bank AG. Zim had an operating profit margin of 59% in the quarter ended Sept. 30, which is double the same measure at Apple Inc. and not far off vaccine producer Moderna Inc.