Posted On: 12-02-2021
A surge in demand for goods like furniture and exercise equipment from locked-down consumers has sparked a jump in shipping rates, boosting profits for Danish freight giant Maersk, the company said on Wednesday. Yet shares in the world’s largest container shipping line fell as much as 8% as it missed analysts’ lofty forecasts for the end of last year and gave more cautious guidance for 2021 than anticipated. Maersk’s ocean shipping business, its largest division, “performed at record level in the quarter as a consequence of the strong rebound of demand,” CEO Soren Skou said in a statement. Maersk expects global container trade to rise 3-5% in 2021 after declining 2% last year. The majority of consumer goods are ferried by container ship operators like Maersk. Container ships have been sailing at full load since August – something that has not happened in a decade.
(Credits: www.marinelink.com)
