Unilever News

Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk warned on Friday of a steeper decline in global demand for shipping containers by sea this year, prompted by muted economic growth and customers reducing inventories.The company, one of the world's biggest container shippers with a market share of around 17%, said it expects container volumes to fall by as much as 4%. It had previously forecast a decline of no more than 2.5%.Maersk transports goods for retailers and consumer companies such as Walmart…

Shipping group Maersk on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings above expectations and maintained its 2023 profit guidance as it expects a recent drop in demand for container shipments to stabilize around mid-year.Maersk, which transports goods for retailers and consumer companies such as Walmart, Nike and Unilever, said the number of containers it loaded onto ships between January and March fell by 9% from a year earlier, while freight rates fell by 37% on average."We delivered a solid financial performance in a challenging market with lower demand caused by continued destocking…

Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk warned on Wednesday lower container volumes and freight rates would drive a four-fold plunge in profits this year, even as it reported record earnings for 2022.The Copenhagen-based company, which transports goods for retailers and consumer companies such as Walmart, Nike, and Unilever, raised its profit forecast twice last year as a surge in consumer demand and pandemic-related logjams at ports boosted freight rates.But freight rates have since…

With 90% of global trade moved by sea, shipping is a major contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 10% between 2012 and 2018, while the industry’s share of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions grew slightly to almost 3%, about the same volume as Germany. It also forecasts that ‘business as usual’ could see emissions increase by up to 50% by 2050 due to the growth in shipping trade.The race to decarbonize shipping is now underway.

Maersk raised its 2022 profit guidance for a second time on Tuesday after beating quarterly revenue expectations as congested global supply chains that have boosted freight rates persist longer than expected.The shipping industry has seen record profits in recent quarters due to a surge in consumer demand and pandemic-related logjams holding up containers in key ports in China, Europe and the United States."Congestion in global supply chains leading to higher freight rates has continued longer than initially anticipated…

With 90% of global trade moved by sea, shipping is a major contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimated that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions grew by 10% between 2012 and 2018, while the industry’s share of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions grew slightly to almost 3%, about the same volume as Germany. It also forecasts that ‘business as usual’ could see emissions increase by up to 50% by 2050 due to the growth in shipping trade.The race to decarbonize shipping is now underway.

The cost of shipping goods has surged 25-30% since the start of the pandemic due to array of inflationary pressures that are "unlikely to abate in the short term," world No.

Russia's shipping trade has plummeted since Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions push many foreign companies to suspend sailings, adding further pressure on the country's economy, according to freight data.The world's biggest foreign container lines—including the top three MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM and others such as Hapag Lloyd—have temporarily suspended cargo shipments to and from Russia, while multiple companies including home furnishings firm IKEA have shut stores.Food companies Nestle…

A.P. Moller-Maersk's board said on Tuesday it has nominated family heir Robert Maersk Uggla to be its next chairman as part of a generational handover at the Danish shipping company.Current chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe and vice-chair Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla, Robert Maersk Uggla's mother, are not standing for reelection to the board at its March 15 annual general meeting, the company said in a statement."After three decades on the board, it is time for me to pass on the responsibility…

Amazon.com Inc and IKEA are among commercial users of container shipping that will opt for zero-carbon marine fuels by 2040 in a new initiative aimed at speeding up decarbonization in the maritime sector, executives said on Tuesday.With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions and the sector is under growing scrutiny to become cleaner.The initiative, which was organized by the non-profit Aspen Institute and has nine signatories so far also including Unilever and Michelin…

The Suez Canal blockage laid bare many of the challenges being faced by the global shipping industry today. With 12% of global trade passing through the canal each day, the total revenue lost from delayed, damaged or lost goods due to its blockage is estimated to be up to $10 billion. Many of the organizations that faced a logistical nightmare in the face of the Ever Given blockage struggled to respond to things as they happened and make informed predictions about future occurrences…

The number of mariners stranded on ships at sea is steadily rising as the crew change crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic continues with no end in sight.Travel and transit restrictions in place due to COVID-19 have severely impacted seafarers, the number of crew members whose contracts have been extended by several months has continued to rise despite multiple pleas to governments to designate them as essential key workers and to facilitate their travel.According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO)…

The container shipping segment appears to have caught coronavirus, with the industry suffering its first monthly fall in long-term contracted ocean freight rates since October 2019. According to the latest XSI Public Indices report from Xeneta, March 2020 saw a small dip of 0.5% in rates after a sustained period of growth. Although these symptoms look mild, the future is characterized by growing uncertainty, with widespread economic disruption and looming global recession likely…

The ongoing trend of downward pressure on long-term contracted ocean freight rates appears to have been broken, or at least temporarily derailed, with marginal increases seen across the board in November.According to the latest XSI Public Indices report from Xeneta, which provides unique business intelligence based on real-time crowd-sourced data from the world’s leading shippers, global rates climbed by 0.9% over the last month. This disrupts a long-term pattern of decline that, with the exception of a sizable and unexpected rise in May, has been ongoing since Summer 2018.Oslo-based Xeneta’s XSI Public Indices report utilities over 110 million data points, covering over 160,000 port-to-port pairings, to provide unparalleled insight into the very latest market moves.

Look beneath the surface of a relatively calm month for long-term contracted ocean freight rates and, says Oslo-headquartered Xeneta, industry observers will see a maelstrom of activity, adjustments and market uncertainty.According to the latest XSI Public Indices report from Xeneta, the leading ocean freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform, July saw a marginal decline in rates of 0.4%, with a marked fall in the Far East export benchmark. Meanwhile US exports and European imports performed well.The global index has now fallen by 2.4% since its all time high in May this year…

A group of Dutch multinationals including FrieslandCampina, Heineken, Philips, DSM, Shell and Unilever, all members of the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition (DSGC), will join forces with A.P. Moller - Maersk on a pilot testing the use of second-generation biofuel.The test is part of an effort by Maersk to reach its net zero CO2 target by 2050 as a tangible step towards the decarbonization of ocean shipping.A pilot, using up to 20% sustainable second-generation biofuels on a large triple-E ocean vessel will sail 25.000 nautical miles from Rotterdam to Shanghai and back on biofuel blends alone, a world’s first at this scale, saving 1…

Ocean freight rate benchmarking platform Xeneta unveiled public indices delivering monthly insights on long-term ocean freight rate development.Oslo-based ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence company  is utilizing its database of over 85 million contracted freight rates to deliver a unique monthly snapshot of long-term rate developments in the container industry.The new Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI) Public Indices report, launching today, provides a detailed overview of the busiest global trade corridors, allowing users to gauge regional developments and track trends for key markets.In June this year Xeneta debuted the full version of the XSI index-linked contracting product.

Xeneta, the leading ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence platform, is launching a product offering that aims to transform the way shippers, freight forwarders and carriers conduct freight rate negotiations. The Oslo headquartered firm has created a new offering, Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI) that allows all parties to set rates at transparent, efficient and fair prices that directly follow market fluctuations. This ensures all stakeholders get the right price for their products and services, relationships are improved and complex, time-consuming negotiations become efficient. “After several years working closely with cargo buyers and sellers…

Technology that could avoid the equivalent of 100 garbage bags of plastic waste being created per second received a funding boost at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The five winners of the "Circular Materials Challenge", which focuses on the 30 percent of plastic packaging that is too small or complex to be recycled and often ends up in the ocean, will share the $1 million prize to develop their solutions, said the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and innovation network NineSigma.

Nils Smedegaard Andersen has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Denmark based feeder and shortsea operator Unifeeder, taking up his first directorship within the logistics and shipping industry after stepping down from his position as Group Chief Executive Officer of A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S in 2016. Andersen, who is a board member and strategic adviser to Unifeeder’s largest investor, e.g. Nordic Capital Funds, also serves as Non-Executive Director at BP plc…

Brand owners and representatives from the international shipping industry have joined forces in signing an historic declaration of intent aimed at preventing the maritime transport of counterfeit goods. Leaders from global shipping firms, freight forwarders, brand owners – whose products are counterfeited – and industry organizations, representing both industries signed a joint "Declaration of Intent to Prevent the Maritime Transport of Counterfeit Goods" today in Brussels. It marks the first time the global shipping industry and brand owners have made a public commitment to work together to stop the transport of counterfeit goods on shipping vessels.

The board of BP plc announced that it has appointed Nils Smedegaard Andersen as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect; as well as serving on the Board he will join the Audit Committee. Andersen was Group Chief Executive of A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S until 2016 and had previously been President and Chief Executive Officer of Carlsberg A/S and Carlsberg Breweries A/S. Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman of BP, said: “I am delighted to welcome Nils Anderson to the BP Board. Nils brings broad experience from the energy, shipping and consumer goods industries. Nils S. Andersen, 58, was Group Chief Executive of A.P. Møller - Mærsk from 2007 to June 2016.

At a presentation this morning at the United Nations in New York, Remi Eriksen, CEO, DNV GL led a presentation on “The Future of Spaceship Earth,” a global forecast on the outlook for the world to 2050. The skinny: The world needs to move further, faster on multiple fronts to ensure the sustainable future of the planet. Calling for “extraordinary action” to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as presented in 2015, Remi Eriksen, CEO, DNV GL introduced “The Future of Spaceship Earth,” a global forecast on the outlook for the world to 2050, at the UN in New York this morning.