Despite recent gains in its Q3 report, world-leading liner Maersk Line has stated that the ongoing trade war between the US and China is having, and will continue to have, a highly detrimental effect on container shipping.
According to reports, Maersk believes that the global container trade could plummet by 0.5%-2% by 2020.
Figures show that that container trade has already dropped 1.9% since Q2.
Given the current economic landscape, Maersk has lowered its earnings for the year and expects to hit around US$4 billion, about half a billion less than originally forecasted.
Despite the drops in the ocean-bound container trade, Maersk has seen improvements in transport & logistics, witnessing an increase in business of 14%.
Maersk Line has moved into the end-to-end market recent after acquiring Damco, signalling its intentions to create a network across the whole supply chain.
Maersk CEO Soren Skou said of the deal: "This integration marks a big milestone on Maersk’s current growth journey towards operating as one integrated company.
“We are in a strong position to deliver solutions that meet our customers end-to-end supply chain management needs, thereby tapping into markets covering the whole journey from producer to consumer by building on our business strengths.”
Maersk also recently made headlines after traversing the long sought after Arctic Route, a lane that has the potential to slash travelling times around the world by almost half.