PARIS, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Weaker consumption is weighing on maritime transport demand and prices, CMA CGM said on Friday while posting sharply higher quarterly results.
The French group, which is one of the main players in the world container transport market, made a net profit of 7.60 billion dollars (as many euros) in the second quarter, against 3.48 billion over the period. correspondent last year.
This result also exceeds that of 7.2 billion dollars achieved over the first three months of this year.
The growth in turnover has enabled CMA CGM to offset the increase in costs, starting with a jump of nearly 75% over one year in its fuel expenses, he explains.
But, like its major competitors, the Marseille-based group stresses that economic tensions are beginning to weigh on its activities by affecting demand for transport, which had nevertheless picked up strongly with the end of the health crisis.
“The global drop in consumption already perceptible this summer will lead to a normalization of flows in the second half of 2022 and a decline in demand for transport,” said its CEO, Rodolphe Saadé, quoted in the results press release.
The slowdown in demand in recent weeks has already had the effect of lowering spot freight rates, the company said.
The volumes transported by the group decreased by 1.3% in the second quarter compared to the same period of 2021 due to the persistent congestion of the port terminals. Volumes nevertheless increased by 6% compared to the first quarter.
Like the oil company TotalEnergies, CMA CGM has twice announced price cuts since June in response to the government’s call for companies benefiting from the economic situation to participate in the fight against inflation in France. (Report Gus Trompiz, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Tangi Salaün)