Shipping giants brace for tough 4Q? Global shipping companies are bracing for weaker-than-expected 4Q earnings, with global majors now lowering their forecast for the year-end. The headwinds appear to come on the heels of concerns of cooling demand and freight rates, coupled with an expected uptick in supply as new ships enter service and boost available capacity.

Still in black despite the headwinds: France-based logistics giant CMA CGM saw its bottom line drop 72.6% y-o-y to USD 749 mn in 3Q 2025, with the firm attributing geopolitical tensions and tariff wars as main drivers. Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd also saw its net income take a dip, going down some 86% y-o-y to roughly USD 138 mn in 3Q, which management attributed to volatile demand and freight rates fluctuations.

REMEMBER- Maersk issued a similar warning, portending that a slump in freight rates is expected to lead to losses in its ocean container business during 4Q 2025, Reuters reported earlier this month.

This could be bad news for Egypt, as weaker 4Q earnings might mean a slow return to the Suez Canal. With spot rates for containers falling more than 50% this year, shipping lines are incentivized to maintain their current voyages around the Cape of Good Hope over fears that a return to the shorter Red Sea route “would flood the market with capacity and cause freight rates to plunge even lower,” freight analytics firm Xeneta’s chief analyst Peter Sand told Bloomberg.

In perspective: A return to the Red Sea route would loosen up some 6% to 7% of the world’s shipping capacity at some 2 mn TEUs that are otherwise tied up due to the long distance of the Cape of Good Hope route.

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