WSJ: CMA CGM’s Saadé urges calm as ocean carrier profits plummet

20/10/2023

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reports:

Rodolphe Saadé, the billionaire chief executive of French container line CMA CGM, says the shipping industry shouldn’t panic over a sharp retreat in earnings.

The head of the world’s third-largest liner company said in an interview that he expects the weak growth in global trade to continue through 2024. But Saadé said the tumbling profits from record highs during the Covid-19 pandemic essentially bring the business back to prepandemic levels.

“Most probably 2024 will be pretty much the same as the second half of ’23, provided [there is] no exceptional crisis,” Saadé said.

“We expect more tension in the months to come,” he said. “We see that the demand is not as strong as before, we see crisis around the world, and this is having an impact on the shipping business.”

Some of the world’s largest ocean carriers made tens of billions of dollars during the pandemic, when shipping demand soared and freight rates skyrocketed. Some carriers like CMA CGM plowed those profits into seaport terminals and air cargo, trucking and warehousing operations. They also leaned on their big cash stockpiles to order a record number of new containerships that now are headed to sea after the red-hot Covid-era demand has evaporated.

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