DECRYPTION – Accustomed to maritime transport prices playing the yoyo, the biggest companies have deployed a strategy to limit the effects of the collapse of prices.
CMA CGM was the first to sound the alarm. “Since a few weeks, inflationary pressures result in a slowdown in household consumption and therefore in a moderation in the demand for maritime transport”, said the Marseille group at the beginning of September. One way to warn that shipowners have eaten their white bread: after reaching peaks, ferry prices have been plummeting since March. Paradoxically, the kings of container ships who pocketed stratospheric profits in 2021 are still counting on record results this year.
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For the second time in 2022, Maersk has raised its profit forecast: the world leader is discounting 37 billion dollars in EBITDA. The reason for this paradox? Maersk gave it at the end of July: “The group continued to sign contracts at rates above last year’s levels.” In fact, the drop in prices only concerns “spot” (daily) prices, which only represent 20% to 30%…
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