Shipping giant boss warns Iran war will have bigger impact in coming months as customers face price hikes

Maersk and HMM container ships at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | The U.S.-Iran war had created a "new wake-up call" for global trade, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told CNBC on Thursday, warning that the impact could worsen in the coming months. Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" after Maersk posted its first-quarter earnings, Clerc said the group is facing intense cost pressures that would have to be passed on to customers. "We are highly energy intensive industry, and that has created a whole new set of circumstances that we now have to deal with," he said. "That will have an important impact on the second and third quarter," Oil costs surged as the war in the Middle East intensified, with ongoing uncertainty around the closure of the Strait of Hormuz keeping prices elevated. The spike in oil prices has also fueled concerns that inflation will be pushed higher in many economies. On Thursday, global benchmark Brent crude futures were down by 2.2% to $93.01 a barrel, amid hopes that Washington and Tehran were close to agreeing on a peace deal. "What this this energy shock is going to mean is about $500 million of extra costs per month for as long as the oil remains around in the in the $100 per barrel neighborhood, that is significant," Clerc told CNBC. …