World's biggest shipper remains wary of COVID-19 pandemic

COPENHAGEN: The world’s biggest shipping company, Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, said on Wednesday (Nov 18) that global container volumes increased by around 1 per cent in the third quarter, a faster rebound than expected earlier in the year. However, global demand for containers is expected to contract by 4 per cent to 5 per cent this year due to COVID-19.

The company said its third quarter revenue decreased by 1.4 per cent to US$9.9 billion while its profit rose to US$947 million from US$520 million during the same period a year earlier.

CEO Soeren Skou said that “despite COVID-19 negatively affecting activities in most of our businesses, our disciplined execution of the strategy led to solid earnings and cash flow growth in Q3.”

He said that the group had managed to simplify the organisation of its shipping unit and had closed the acquisition of KGH Customs Services, a Sweden-based specialist in trade and customs management services in Europe.

In a statement, the group said it looked “confidently past the extraordinary 2020."

"However we remain well aware of the high level of uncertainty the pandemic and associated lock downs continue to pose in the coming quarters,” the company said.

AP Moller-Maersk is based in Copenhagen, operates in 130 countries and employs roughly 80,000 people.