Global Trade Slows in Blow to Maersk as Further Hit Expected
- Shipping giant sees ‘a lot of clouds’ ahead for freight market
- Global economic growth is expected to remain weak this year
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A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, a bellwether for global trade, signaled weaker results for the rest of 2023 after reporting first-quarter operating profit that tumbled by more than half with transport volumes slowing and freight rates plunging.
Maersk, which transports close to one-fifth of the world’s containers, warned that the first three months of 2023 “will be best quarter of the financial year,” the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement on Thursday. It expects global economic growth to remain “weak” at around 2% this year.