Maersk to return to profitability – at any cost

Speaking in London yesterday (Monday), Skou, who only took over the reins at the Line seven weeks ago, said that Maersk will continue to seek to increase freight rates to defend its market share, currently 15.5% globally and 19.4% on the Asia-Europe trade, but that it would also be prepared to reduce them to meet head-on competition from other lines “if that’s what it takes”.

“As liner operators we are having a hard time. We must do anything we can to get back into the black,” he said, adding that during the last seven years the container industry had only generated shareholder value in 2010.

Claiming that freight rates had roughly remained stable since 2005, Skou said that the industry had been passing on ‘efficiencies’ equivalent to a 2% to 3% rate of inflation, making shipping containers cheaper over time.