Lower volumes are pushing up the price of shipping containers for longer than previously foreseen, Maersk said, forecasting a 2022 profit of about US$30 billion, measured as underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, according to a statement today.

That’s up from the US$24 billion Maersk predicted in February and compares with an average estimate of US$28.3 billion in a survey by Bloomberg. 

Maersk shares rose as much as 9% in Copenhagen shortly after the open. The gain pared the year-to-date decline to about 16%. Maersk shares have more than doubled in value over the two-year period of 2020-2021.

The company said that results were driven by an “exceptional market situation” with high freight rates continuing into the second quarter. The company, which transports about one-sixth of the world’s containers, sees the market normalising early in the second half of the year.

Kuehne + Nagel International also indicated that trade bottlenecks would last longer as the freight-forwarder reported that “the already strained supply-chain situation deteriorated further” in the first three months of the year. The Swiss company published first-quarter earnings that beat estimates.  

The disruption allowed container lines to charge 71% higher rates than a year earlier, Maersk said.

It now sees a risk of the global container market contracting this year, forecasting worldwide demand to decline 1% or rise 1%, compared with a previous forecast of 2% to 4% growth. 

Maersk is due to report its first-quarter results on May 4.