Container shipping and logistics giant Maersk is reporting record profits for the past three months as it benefited from rising prices for freight due to supply chain disruption.

In a trading update today (Tuesday 2 July) ahead of its full second-quarter results on Wednesday, Denmark’s AP Moller Maersk A/S said it expected full-year profits would be about a quarter higher than previously forecast at $31 billion rather than $24 billion.

The FT reports that Maersk is the world’s most profitable freight shipper and the second largest by capacity, after privately-owned Mediterranean Shipping Company. Bloomberg highlights that Maersk controls about one-sixth of the world’s container shipping trade.

Shipping congestion

Maersk, known amongst market observers as the bellwether of international trade, is among those shippers benefiting from post-pandemic shipping lane congestion in US and Chinese ports, allowing sea transporters to charge higher rates.

Last week Hapag-Lloyd AG raised its profit forecast, reporting that average freight rates have been about 80% higher in the first half of 2022.

Normalising

However Maersk, which has expanded its land transport business to reduce dependence on shipping, said it expects the ocean shipping market to normalise in the second half of 2022.

Reuters reports that the company expects growth in world demand for shipping to slow overall this year to between -1% and +1%.