{"id":7833,"date":"2026-02-10T10:51:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/7833\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T10:51:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:51:07","slug":"maersk-braces-for-freight-rate-slump-with-job-cuts-and-cost-drive-as-red-sea-routes-reopen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/7833\/","title":{"rendered":"Maersk Braces for Freight Rate Slump with Job Cuts and Cost Drive as Red Sea Routes Reopen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A.P. Moller-Maersk A\/S is preparing for a softer earnings environment by cutting jobs and tightening costs as the reopening of Red Sea shipping lanes puts renewed pressure on freight rates.<\/p>\n<p>Read also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltrademag.com\/maersk-analyzes-2026-supply-chain-challenges-suez-return-eu-tax-change\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Maersk Analyzes 2026 Supply Chain Challenges: Suez Return, EU Tax Change<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The container shipping giant said it expects 2026 underlying EBITDA to come in between $4.5 billion and $7 billion, a sharp decline from the $9.57 billion recorded in 2025 and below the $5.76 billion analyst consensus. Shares slid as much as 8.1% in Copenhagen trading, marking their steepest drop in three weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Maersk\u2019s outlook assumes a gradual normalization of Red Sea transits. During the disruption, carriers rerouted vessels around southern Africa, extending voyage times and effectively removing 7\u20138% of global capacity from the market \u2014 a dynamic that had supported freight pricing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith more services returning through the Red Sea, capacity will be freed up, creating a pricing environment under pressure in our shipping division,\u201d CEO Vincent Clerc said in a Bloomberg TV interview. He added that Maersk sees significant opportunities to cut costs as the industry enters a downcycle.<\/p>\n<p>The company plans to eliminate 1,000 roles, about 15% of corporate positions but less than 1% of its total workforce, targeting $180 million in annual savings. Productivity initiatives \u2014 including expanded use of artificial intelligence \u2014 will be a key focus.<\/p>\n<p>Maersk forecasts global container trade growth of 2\u20134% in 2026, expecting to perform in line with the broader market. It also announced a share buyback program of up to 6.3 billion kroner ($1 billion) over the next year.<\/p>\n<p>Market observers say the guidance is achievable even under full Red Sea normalization. \u201cThe low end of the range should be possible even with a full reopening,\u201d said Danske Bank credit analyst Brian Borsting.<\/p>\n<p>Security risks in the region had previously curtailed traffic, but Maersk completed its first Bab el-Mandeb Strait transit in nearly two years in December after attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants subsided.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, freight fundamentals continue to weaken. Container rates from Shanghai have fallen more than 40% from their June peak and are expected to decline further, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Adding to pressure, the world\u2019s five largest carriers have nearly 7 million TEU of new vessel capacity on order \u2014 roughly 20% of the current global fleet, data from Alphaliner show.<\/p>\n<p>Financially, Maersk\u2019s fourth-quarter performance reflected the cooling market. EBITDA fell by nearly half year over year to $1.84 billion, while revenue dropped almost 9% to $13.33 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A.P. Moller-Maersk A\/S is preparing for a softer earnings environment by cutting jobs and tightening costs as the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224],"tags":[787,669,245,673,1844],"class_list":{"0":"post-7833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-maersk","8":"tag-global-logistics","9":"tag-global-trade","10":"tag-maersk","11":"tag-supply-chain","12":"tag-supply-chain-management"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}