![\"Maersk](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/464114176.jpg.webp\")
<\/p>\n\n August 13, 2026 9:16 AM, EDT<\/p>\n
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Maersk ontainers at the Port of Mobile in Alabama. (Micah Green\/Bloomberg)<\/p>\n
Key Takeaways:![\"Toggle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/expand.png\" "\\"Toggle")
\nMaersk, Hapag-Lloyd and DP World reported strong trade demand, with Maersk raising its full-year outlook for the second time in seven weeks.Executives said AI infrastructure, electrification and energy-transition cargoes are driving resilient shipping volumes despite wars, droughts and transportation bottlenecks.Freight rates remain volatile as conflicts, waterway disruptions and port congestion persist, though companies said demand continues to support cargo growth. <\/p>\n
Three workhorses of global goods trade indicated demand remains solid as the artificial intelligence boom and energy transition help the world economy absorb shocks stemming from extreme weather, wars and tariffs.<\/p>\n
A.P. Moller-Maersk A\/S, the world\u2019s second-biggest container carrier, raised its full-year outlook for the second time in seven weeks, crediting higher freight rates and a \u201cmore resilient global economy than initially feared.\u201d\n \t \t\t<\/p>\n
Hapag-Lloyd AG, the No. 5 container line, cited \u201cstrong exports out of Asia and improved U.S. demand, which helped offset the significant cost headwinds\u201d of about $600 million last quarter tied to the Mideast conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DP World, the Dubai-based port operator and logistics giant, also released results Aug. 13, disclosing increased revenue and higher container volumes in the first half. The gains came despite a sharp drop in ship arrivals at Jebel Ali, its flagship port and industrial zone on the Persian Gulf.\n \t\t<\/p>\n
The announcements underscore the durability of consumer and corporate demand even as a war rages between Russia and Ukraine, and the U.S. and Iran\u00a0jockey for control\u00a0of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. Those conflicts are helping keep energy costs elevated.<\/p>\n \u2018Very fast\u2019<\/p>\n Meanwhile, droughts are parching inland waterways from North America\u2019s St. Lawrence Seaway to the\u00a0Rhine and Danube\u00a0rivers across Europe. Vessel bottlenecks are building at Chinese ports and\u00a0queues\u00a0are lengthening to transit the vital Panama Canal.<\/p>\n Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said it\u2019s an environment where freight rates will remain volatile.<\/p>\n \u201cThe underlying current is very, very strong, resilient demand for container transport on the back of electrification \u2014 whether it is generation, storage, new products such as electric vehicles, data centers, cooling,\u201d Clerc told Bloomberg Television. \u201cAnything that has to do with that is growing; the fabric of what we\u2019re moving is changing and the volumes are growing very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate interview Aug. 13, Jan Rindbo, CEO at D\/S Norden A\/S, one of the largest commodity shipping companies, agreed that demand is strong.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s broad-based,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing it in grain, iron ore and steel, and increasingly in project cargo such as batteries and wind turbine blades.\u201d<\/p>\n