AP Møller-Maersk has warned that a contraction in global trade will prove longer and deeper than the container shipping giant had feared, as companies cut their inventories in the face of recession risks in Europe and the US.
The Danish shipping and logistics group said on Friday that global container demand — regarded as a proxy for global trade — would fall by 1 per cent to 4 per cent this year, versus a prior forecast of plus 0.5 per cent to minus 2.5 per cent.
Container shipping, an industry whose fortunes are tied to globalisation, enjoyed a historic boom from 2020 to 2022 as retail and industrial companies struggled to restock and respond to pent-up demand unleashed after the lifting of coronavirus lockdowns.