Danish carrier Maersk consolidation of services and shoring up its fleet have led the Danish financial house Dankse Market Equities to report a "bull scenario" for the group in 2010 with a return to profitability fuelled by rising freight rates.
The carrier's consolidation in volume on Asia/Europe lanes, represented by increases of 10 per cent from 2007, is paying dividends with demand growth to exceed supply growth over the first half of 2010, according to the report.
This will be counterbalanced by the increase of bunker costs up to 3.6 per cent with other unit costs predicted to fall two per cent. But Maersk should cover this in surcharges, the report said.
Conservative estimates show freight rate increases of 16 per cent will produce US$172 million profit for the AP Moller-Maersk Group.
The brokerage also forecasts a robust 2011 for the Danish shipping giant.