Maersk sees a ‘slow pick up’ in global trade next year

Maersk (CPH: MAERSK-B) – the Danish shipping giant says it’s seeing early signs of recovery in global trade. Its shares still ended marginally down on Friday.

Demand is pushing up in the U.S. and Europe

The logistics company flagged weak demand last year on supply constraints and a less confident consumer.

But it’s now seeing an uptick particularly in Europe and the United States. According to Vincent Clerc – the Chief Executive of Maersk:

Barring any negative surprises, we would hope for a slow pick up into 2024 … a demand that is a bit more in line with what we see in consumption, and not so much an inventory correction.

The news arrives only a day after Maersk revealed the world’s first container ship that runs on green methanol.

Emerging markets have most upside for 2024

On Friday, Maersk also said that emerging markets like Africa, Latin America, and India were keeping resilient in the face of challenging economic climate.

North America and a bunch of other economies are expected to unlock more demand as geopolitical tensions related to China and Russia start to subside, CEO Clerc told CNBC in a recent interview.

As this starts to normalise and works itself out, we’ll see a rebound in demand. I’d say emerging markets and North America are certainly points where we see most upside potential.

Last month, Maersk said its profit crashed a whopping 72% year-on-year in its second financial quarter due to a sharp decline in container rates.