Danish shipping C.P. Moller-Maersk has reaffirmed the projection for 2026 at its how its global container demand has persisted surprisingly well against market expectations sometimes amid an escalation in geopolitical conflict. On Thursday the company pushed upward its full-year 2026 guidance for the second time in recent months, citing strong Asian export growth and higher freight rates as reasons. The guidance for underlying profit before interest tax depreciation and amortisation has been raised to between $10.5 billion and $12.5 billion from the old guidance of between $8 billion and $10 billion.
Underlying operating profit is expected between $4.5 billion and $6.5 billion. Both are well above the consensus forecasts from analysts and clear indicators of the second quarter that saw Maersk generate EBITDA of $3 billion on revenues of nearly $15.8 billion. What is striking is how the figures became intertwined. The volume of ships expanded by 4.
1%, mainly due to Asian exports, and the average loaded freight rate increased by 22%. Contradictorily, the Chinese traffic grew robustly and thereby surpassing the reduction of the Middle East trades as a consequence of regional war. Congestion in South America, West Africa, and Northern Europe, exceeded the capacity, raised spot rates And and constituted a bonus whose benefit was higher than the slack that resulted from a longer journey and some delay. CEO, Vincent Clerc, characterized the quarter as another embodiment of the new era of volatility that our industry has entered into.
He pointed out that Robust levels of demand in the Far East leading to even more lopsided trade flows was putting stress on landside infrastructure from ports to inland transportation networks. Waiting times for berthing have been as long as 12 days at major Chinese ports highlighting how demand had exceeded the capacity of older infrastructure. Yet Maersk teams were quick to take advantage of the opportunities So created to achieve growth in the ocean, logistics and terminals businesses.
The company is wary of the coming months though. Chinese exports seem unlikely to let up and the strength may persis into the third Quarter. The still-unsolved situation in the Middle East also bears some risk. But, Maersk still appears optimistic of a more complete resumption of the Suez Canal later in the year which would help to counteract the additional Cape of Good Hope detourings this year which have added to fuel and transit costs.
Shares in the group listed in Copenhagen gained on the news, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that container shipping has been holding up so far against expectations of a more serious slowdown. Investors have been wary of the wider market waiting for evidence that the current high rates and congestion will eventually kill off demand. But so far the opposite seems to be the case: importers in Africa, North America and Latin America are still ordering, and retailers seem prepared to pay higher freight costs to avoid empty shelves.
