According to the American "Wall Street**", as one of the world's largest shipping companies, Maersk recently announced plans to lay off more than 10,000 employees, and ** this year's full-year profit will be at the lower end of the target range. The U.S. Consumer News & Business Channel** recently reported that the latest survey results show that the global freight industry may experience a cold winter this year, and the industry will continue to face a challenging economic environment in 2024. Experts say that weak demand growth, sluggish freight forwarding, and poor market expectations are the common characteristics of the entire industry.
The market is sluggish. According to Reuters, Maersk controls about 1 6 percent of the world's container** share, providing logistics and transportation services to a number of major retailers and consumer goods companies, including Walmart and Nike. Recently, the company announced that operating profit in the third quarter of this year fell sharply to $1.9 billion from $10.9 billion in the same period last year, and revenue also fell to $12.1 billion from $22.8 billion, a decline that exceeded market analysts and investors' expectations.
According to Wall Street**, Maersk Group is currently working to reduce the number of employees to less than 100,000 from 110,000 at the beginning of this year, a move that is expected to save Maersk Group about $600 million in operating costs in 2024.
CNN reported that London-based Druly Shipping said that the recent transportation of 40-foot containers on eight major routes around the world was $1,406, a decrease of 54% compared with the same period in 2022.
The land transport industry is also facing challenges. According to a recent survey of executives of a number of U.S. logistics companies such as Robinson Global Logistics, about half of the respondents expect LTL freight rates to increase by 5% in the first quarter of next year, and the other half expect freight rates to remain unchanged or decrease, with a maximum decline of 15%. In addition, the majority of respondents believe that freight rates for truckload transportation will remain stable or show a downward trend. The channel quoted Noah Hoffman, vice president of North American ground at Robinson, as saying, "We expect the trucking industry to experience a downturn even during the usual retail season." Tim Robertson, an executive at DHL Global Forwarding, said: "No one is currently confident that there will be a significant increase in demand during the peak retail season or next year. ”
*Weak. Goldman Sachs analysts warned in an October research note that the downturn in the global freight industry will be more severe and lasting longer than the market expects, according to Bloomberg.
Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Academy of International Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out in an interview with this newspaper that the sluggish global growth is the direct cause of the recession in the freight industry.
In October of this year, the World ** organization has already cut the increase in international ** in 2023 by half, and it is expected to grow by only 08%。The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is even more pessimistic, with only 30 international figures expected to be issued for the whole of this year$7 trillion, which is about 5% shrinking from a record 2022. Among them, goods** are expected to decrease by nearly $2 trillion, or 8%.
On the one hand, weak global economic growth has led to a decline in market demand and poor market expectations. At the same time, the United States and Europe are currently in a cycle of interest rate hikes, and the cost of borrowing has risen, dampening business investment and consumer spendingOn the other hand, European and American importers have accumulated a large amount of inventory in the past two years. At present, these inventories still need to be further digested, which suppresses the demand for cargo transportation. The combined effect of these factors has led to sluggish global growth, which directly affects the prosperity of the freight industry. Zhang Jianping said.
There is still a turnaround. In response to the current predicament faced by the freight industry, many companies are taking corresponding measures.
Vincent Clare, CEO of Maersk, said: "Given the challenging future, we have taken a number of measures to control costs to safeguard our financial performance. He said the company will continue to pursue growth opportunities in the terminal business and logistics and services.
Leor Ron, CEO of Uber Cargo, said there will be a "new pivot" in the major transformation of the freight industry, and that trucking companies can only operate effectively if they have a diversified business model.
Zhang Jianping pointed out that in view of the current situation, the freight industry needs to take active measures to control costs and improve efficiency. Specifically, the industry should focus on the use of the "Internet +" strategy to vigorously develop smart logistics. At the same time, the use of national policies and measures in terms of facilitation, from the overall reduction of freight operating costs, enhance market competitiveness. In addition, the industry should strive to explore potential opportunities and actively expand into emerging markets to meet the current challenges.
Zhang Jianping believes that like other industries, the freight industry also has a cycle of business cycles. For example, in 2021, the industry experienced a ** surge and a shortage of containers. In the context of the current global economy and weak growth, it is reasonable for the freight industry to face a "cold winter". "I believe that with the adaptive adjustment of the industry and the further development of economic globalization, the freight industry may still usher in a new turnaround and cyclical prosperity in the future. Zhang Jianping said.