For the better! Maersk expects container demand decline to stabilize mid-year

Earlier, Maersk released its first-quarter financial report, saying that its profit was higher than expected, and maintained its profit guidance for 2023, because the company expects the recent decline in container shipping demand to stabilize around the middle of the year.

Maersk is one of the world's largest container shippers with a market share of about 17 percent and is seen as an indicator of the outlook for the shipping industry and the global economy. The company posted record profits last year as surging consumer demand and port congestion related to the pandemic pushed up freight rates.

But since then, freight rates have fallen sharply due to the global economic downturn and the gradual bursting of an import bubble sparked by the epidemic in the United States and other major consuming countries. The number of containers loaded onto ships between January and March this year fell by 9% year-on-year, while freight rates fell by an average of 37%.

Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said that destocking in Europe is expected to end by the end of the second quarter, demand will improve in the second half of 2023, and freight rates will continue to fall.

Meanwhile, the company said its 2023 guidance was based on "subdued" economic growth, with the decline in container traffic set to stabilize around mid-year.