Maersk Predicts Stability Of Shipping Boom In 2nd Half Of 2022

Shipping group Maersk, often seen as a barometer for global trade, on Tuesday, cautioned the container market may normalize in the second half of the year, even as it raised full-year guidance driven by high container freight rates, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Maersk reported revenue in the first three months of the year at $19.3 billion, with underlying EBITDA at $9.2 billion.

The shipping industry has seen record profits in recent quarters as a surge in consumer demand, pandemic-related bottlenecks in US and Chinese ports, and more recently an airspace closure following Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted a spike in freight rates.

But the forecast from Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shippers with a market share of around 17%, according to intelligence provider Alphaliner, is likely to be seen as a negative sign for the global economy.

Maersk said in a trading update on Tuesday that container volumes declined 7% between January and March. The company now expects growth in global container demand to slow this year to between minus 1% and plus 1%, compared to its previous expectation of 2-4% growth.

The Swiss logistics group Kuehne & Nagel on Tuesday also reported a dip in container volumes in the first three months of the year.

The Danish company revised its guidance for the full year upwards, with underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) expected to be about $30 billion compared to $24 billion previously expected and $28.7 billion forecast by analysts in a poll gathered by the company.

Maersk reported revenue in the first three months of the year at $19.3 billion, with underlying EBITDA at $9.2 billion, higher than analyst expectations of $19.0 billion and $8.4 billion, respectively.

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