AP Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s biggest container shipping line, was expected to make around $4.5 billion in operating profit in 2021, according to estimates at the start of the year by the financial analysts who follow the company. Their estimates have turned out to be totally wrong. Due to surging freight rates stemming from global supply chain snarl-ups, the Danish shipping giant is now predicted to make around $14.5 billion this year.
Maersk’s extraordinary financial results are being repeated across the industry. If freight rates keep rising, the container lines could collectively make $100 billion in operating income in 2021, according to Drewry Maritime Research. For context, that’s more than 15 times the profits they generated in 2019 and nearly as much as Apple Inc. makes in a typical year.
