Maersk Line has posted a first quarter loss of $66m, reversing from the profit of $37m in the year-ago period, as the carrier was hit by higher bunker fuel costs.
The container carrier said that despite freight rates increasing by 4.4% year-on-year during the first quarter, they did not fully compensate for the 80% spike in bunker price.
Freight rates mainly increased on East-West trades and especially from Asia to Europe while North-South trades were below last year.
Maersk Line noted that fundamentals have improved in the first quarter and demand outgrew nominal supply for the second consecutive quarter.
“Global container demand grew nearly 4% in 2016, and strengthened towards the end of the year,” Maersk Line stated.
“The momentum continued into Q1 2017, with global container demand of around 5% year-on-year, reflecting improvements in the global economic environment,” it said.
The first quarter revenue for Maersk Line was recorded at $5.49bn compared to $4.97bn in the previous corresponding period.
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