Shipping giant Maersk expects supply chain constraints to continue

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) – Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, said Tuesday it expects global supply chain constraints to continue until the first quarter of next year.

The Danish-based global shipping firm said in a statement that customers’ supply chains have been heavily disrupted as a result of the market situation in the third quarter of this year.

"Customers are increasingly demanding end-to-end solutions to mitigate supply chain disruptions," it said in its financial results statement.

"Ocean (traffic) was impacted by network disruption, congestions, and additional costs caused by shortages across the supply chain, driving up freight rates in combination with a surge in demand," it added.

Despite supply chain difficulties, the firm posted record earnings and revenue in the third quarter.

Its income soared nearly fivefold to $5.46 billion this July-September, up from $947 million in the same period last year.

Revenue climbed 67% to $16.61 billion, from $9.92 billion, during the same period.

Despite the strong results, Maersk said it expects current supply chain conditions to continue at least into the first quarter of 2022.

"The current trading conditions are still subject to a higher-than-normal uncertainty due to the temporary nature of current demand patterns and disruptions in the supply chains," the statement said.