COPENHAGEN, May 08 (Reuters): Shipping group Maersk said on Thursday container volumes plunged 30-40 per cent between the US in China in April as a trade war erupted between the world's top economies, and warned a protracted dispute could shrink global volumes this year. However, the Danish group stuck to its full-year profit guidance, helped by continued disruption on the Red Sea trade route that has pushed up freight rates.
Trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump have prompted companies worldwide to cut sales targets and major economies to revise down growth prospects, impacting demand for shipping goods at sea.
Maersk, viewed as a barometer of world trade, said it now expects global container volumes within a range of down 1 per cent to up 4 per cent this year, compared with the 4 per cent growth estimated at the beginning of the year.
"Volumes between China and the US dropped sharply during April, between 30 per cent and 40 per cent as tariffs went up. We were able to reallocate them to some other areas where there's still strong demand," CEO Vincent Clerc told journalists in Copenhagen.
Many companies rushed to ship goods to the US at the beginning of the year in anticipation of potential tariffs. But most economists are calling the Trump tariff gambit a demand shock to the world economy which will sap global activity.
Maersk expects market growth in the second quarter, if customers take advantage of a 90-day pause in the bulk of planned US tariffs to build inventories, but said there was a risk of demand contracting in the second half of the year if tariffs were not rolled back.
Maersk, whose customers include Walmart, Target, and Nike, said the threat of a further escalation in the trade war cast a shadow over the US economy.
"The dream of being able to produce locally, with all you'll need for your supply chain, is not possible," Clerc said.
"Unemployment is at a historic low in the United States, and they are deporting hundreds of thousands of people.”
