By Henrik Jensen, Managing Director, Maersk Oceania
In my message to you in last year’s Annual Review, I finished with a rhetorical question, asking if 2021 would bring us some unforeseen challenges. As I write this, a mere two months before we ring in 2022, it’s safe to say that this year has seen a chain of events that nobody could have predicted.
Many metaphors have been used to describe 2021, but to me the last 12 months will go down in history as a ‘trade growth tsunami’.
The global demand rebound from the initial COVID-19 shutdown has been nothing short of dramatic, and very unforeseen. Driven by pent-up consumer spending and government stimulus, this year we have seen the highest global growth rates in over 80 years, with the WTO predicting global merchandise trade volume growth of 10.8% in 2021.
Dealing with this tidal wave of demand has put extraordinary pressure on the entire supply chain ecosystem. Warehousing, terminals, trucking, rail and ocean freight have all been overwhelmed by the ‘black swan’ combination of historically high volumes and COVID-related constraints.
