As bad as the ongoing supply chain crisis has been thus far, it is going to get much worse, according to the world's global trade barometer Maersk, a Danish company.
The company, "one of the world’s largest container shipping firms, on Wednesday posted record profit for the third quarter on the back of high ocean freight rates, but noted a slowdown in demand," CNBC reported.
The outlet added:
The Danish giant, widely seen as a barometer for global trade, reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $10.9 billion for the quarter, above consensus analyst projections of $9.8 billion and up around 60% from the same period a year ago.
The company confirmed its full-year guidance for underlying EBITDA of $37 billion and free cash flow above $24 billion.
Soren Skou, the shipper's CEO, said that the company's "exceptional results" this year were in large part due to the continued rise on ocean freight rates. He also said, however, that it has become obvious that those rates have now peaked and should begin slipping back to normal during the fourth quarter as global demand falls and the supply chain that is clogged by the China virus pandemic and continued factory shutdowns there begins to ease somewhat.
But that slowing demand means that the global economy, especially in the U.S., will slow down as well, which will then lead to job cuts and a further slowing of the U.S. economy.
“With the war in Ukraine, an energy crisis in Europe, high inflation, and a looming global recession there are plenty of dark clouds on the horizon,” Skou said in a statement Wednesday.
“This weighs on consumer purchasing power which in turn impacts global transportation and logistics demand. While we expect a slow-down of the global economy to lead to a softer market in Ocean, we will continue to pursue the growth opportunities within our Logistics business," he added.
In fact, the U.S. economy has already begun to fracture, thanks to record high inflation under the 'leadership' of Joe Biden's handlers and a Democratic Congress.
"They are trying really hard to convince all of us that everything is just fine. But close to one-fifth of the U.S. population is skipping meals because food prices are too high. And nearly 40 percent of our small businesses couldn’t pay rent in October. Our leaders are trying to put a positive spin on things, but the truth is that we are witnessing a tremendous amount of economic suffering all over the United States right now," noted Michael Snyder at his The Economic Collapse Blog.
"The core consumer price index just surged to the highest level since 1982, and this is putting an enormous amount of financial stress on American families and businesses," he added.
He also noted a survey just released this week that found 37 percent of small businesses could not afford to pay their rent in October, another sign that massive inflation under Biden is killing the economy.
“The findings, published Tuesday by Boston-based business tracker Alignable, are raising more than eyebrows, as they illustrate the stark effect inflation is having on everyday Americans,” the UK’s Dailymail.com reported this week.
“The survey of 4,789 randomly selected small business owners saw more than half of respondents say their rent is at least 10 percent higher than six months ago,” the report continued. “If you go back seven months, the majority said their rents had increased by at least 20 percent.”
Rents have skyrocketed along with the price of everything else, and nothing the Biden regime has tried so far is working to bring inflation down.
To be sure, the ‘fix’ is being implemented by the Federal Reserve: In order to bring down inflation, the Fed has to cool spending and to do that, the agency must impose crippling interest rate increases that raise the cost of financing big-ticket items like homes, automobiles and appliances, among other things.
The economy is headed south under Biden and his party. The evidence is everywhere.
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