FRANKFURT, Nov 9 (Reuters) - German container shipper Hapag-Lloyd on Thursday posted a net profit of 3.2 billion euros ($3.43 billion) for the first nine months of 2023, down by 77% from a year earlier, and cut its forecasts for full-year earnings.

Net profit was down from 13.8 billion euros in comparable 2022 when the shipping industry, a proxy for global trade, boomed amid post-pandemic recovery and because logistics disruptions drove up prices for consumers.

"Results are significantly below the prior-year level due to the severe change in market conditions," said Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-biggest container liner, in a press release.

This year, the global economic slowdown and the clearing of port logjams sent freight rates down sharply, which has also harmed Hapag-Lloyd competitor Maersk.

Hapag-Lloyd said its 2023 earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were now seen to be ranging between 2.2-3.1 billion euros, down from a 2-4 billion euros range quoted before.

EBITDA was expected to be in a range of 4.1-5 billion euros vis-a-vis a previous range of 4-6 billion euros.

Transport volumes, however, remained almost at par with those in the prior year at 8.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), up nearly 5% year-on-year in the third quarter.

Relief also came from lower shipping fuel prices, which dropped by 19% to an average $611 per tonne in the nine months.

Freight rates were off 45% in the nine months at $1,604 per TEU, pressuring earnings.

"If spot rates do not recover, we could face some challenging quarters in this subdued market environment," said chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen.

($1 = 0.9340 euros) (Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)