Danish shipper: US-China trade war hits container trade

Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk is warning that trade tensions between the United States and China could weigh on business.

The company said a brewing trade war between the two had created uncertainty and could "reduce global container trade by 0.5 to 2.0 percent during 2019-2020".

Maersk's share price was down 1 percent in afternoon trading in Copenhagen.

The warning came as the company said third-quarter revenues increased 31 percent to $10.1 billion from $7.7 billion a year earlier. That helped Maersk post a net profit from continuing operations of $191 million against last year's loss of $112 million.

Chief Executive Soeren Skou said Wednesday that the financial performance was helped by an emergency bunker surcharge and synergies related to the 2017 acquisition of German container shipping company Hamburg Sud.