Maersk: Global trade will rebound next year

Ke Wensheng, who took over Maersk this year, said in an interview with CNBC last week: Unless there are any negative surprises, we look forward to a slow return to demand after 2024, which is different from the boom we have known in the past few years, but it is certain that demand mainly comes from the consumption side, and the relationship between inventory adjustment is not so big.

Mr Cowen said consumers in Europe and the US were the main drivers of the recovery in trade demand, and the US and European markets continued to show "amazing momentum". Maersk last year warned of weak shipping demand, with warehouses full of unsold goods, low consumer confidence and supply chain bottlenecks.

Despite tough economic conditions, emerging markets have shown resilience, particularly in India, Latin America and Africa, he said. The region, along with other major economies, is reeling from macroeconomic factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US-China trade war, but North America is expected to have a strong performance next year. 'When things start to normalize and the problem is resolved, we will see a rebound in demand,' Mr. Cowen said. Emerging markets and North America are where we see the greatest potential for warming.

But Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was less optimistic, telling CNBC on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi on Thursday that the path to boosting global trade and economic growth is not necessarily smooth, and what we are seeing so far is even very disturbing.

"Our world is deglobalizing," she said. "For the first time, global trade is expanding more slowly than the global economy, with global trade growing at 2% and the economy growing at 3%." Georgieva said trade needed to build Bridges and create opportunities if it was to return as an engine of economic growth.