Danish shipping group Maersk on Thursday raised its full-year earnings guidance for a second time this year and smashed profit forecasts as global container demand proved resilient in the face of the Middle
Danish shipping group Maersk on Thursday raised its full-year earnings guidance for a second time this year and smashed profit forecasts as global container demand proved resilient in the face of the Middle East conflict.
Surging freight rates, fuelled by gridlocked ports and strong Chinese export growth, delivered a windfall that dwarfed the additional costs caused by Middle East disruption, defying fears that the conflict would tip the global economy into recession and dent container demand.
Maersk's second-quarter profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation stood at $3.0 billion, well above a median forecast of $2.12 billion in a company-provided poll and up from $2.30 billion a year ago.
Waiting times to berth have reached 12 days at the port of Shanghai, CEO Vincent Clerc said, as surging demand overwhelmed chronically underinvested landside infrastructure across Northern Europe, South America, West Africa and China.
Clerc said the resulting bottlenecks, not Middle East conflict, were driving freight rates higher.
Shipping companies are once again benefiting from higher freight rates driven by severe port congestion, network bottlenecks and strong demand, a dynamic reminiscent of the pandemic period, when supply-chain disruption tightened capacity and boosted industry profits.
MAERSK LIFTS 2026 OUTLOOK AGAIN
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