A.P. Møller – Mærsk said on August 13, 2026, that its second-quarter profit more than doubled to $1.3 billion. Chief executive Vincent Clerc said global container demand has stayed strong despite war in the Middle East and new U.S. tariffs.
DR reports that the shipping group presented the figures at a results briefing on Thursday. The profit of $1.3 billion, equal to about 8.5 billion kroner, is more than double the result in the same quarter last year.
The result marks a turnaround for A.P. Møller – Mærsk after a weaker start to 2026. According to DR, the first quarter was more modest, and the company said at the beginning of the year that a full-year loss was a risk. Mærsk now expects a double-digit billion-kroner profit for all of 2026.
Clerc told DR that the strength of the world economy has surprised the container carrier’s management. He said demand for containers has remained very high, despite the war in the Middle East and despite new rounds of tariffs in the United States.
The chief executive said the biggest surprise compared with the previous quarter was that the war in Iran changed nothing in Mærsk’s market. As reported by DR, he said the market in the Far East was already busy before the conflict, and that it stayed busy through the war and the tariff rounds. He described the combination of an energy shock and war with no visible market effect as a surprise for the company.
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Electrification named as a driver
Clerc pointed to global electrification as a significant force behind the demand. Per DR, he named electric cars, batteries and air conditioning for data centers as the goods flows that increasingly fill world trade.
Those categories are also highlighted in recent international energy data. The International Energy Agency reported that electric vehicles accounted for more than 70 percent of total battery deployment in 2025. In its mid-year electricity update for 2026, the agency said structural drivers such as electric vehicles, air conditioning and data-center capacity will keep supporting growth in electricity demand this year.
Why the figures came now
The update follows the company’s publication of its second-quarter accounts for 2026, which contained both the profit figure and the changed guidance for the year. DR links the stronger result directly to continued container demand during the quarter, alongside the war, the tariffs and higher energy prices.
Mærsk is one of the world’s largest container shipping companies and is headquartered in Copenhagen. The electric car and battery trades cited by Clerc are among the cargo flows moving through its network.
