Maersk expects global container demand to decelerate later this year after a strong start to 2024, with CEO Vincent Clerc calling it the “biggest question mark” for the ocean carrier and the wider industry for the remainder of the year.

Global container demand is estimated to have grown between 5 percent to 7 percent in the second quarter. While this demand growth is expected to remain positive in coming quarters, it will likely come at a slower pace for the remainder of the year, according to the company.

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“We have seen a strong bounce back in container volumes so far this year compared to 2023. Much of this is related to cyclical restocking as many businesses globally feel more optimistic about the state of the economy,” Clerc said in a Wednesday morning earnings call. “While there is less worry about the economy, however, there is still worry about geopolitics in the world,” referring to uncertainties related to the U.S. election, future import tariffs on Chinese goods and the East Coast port labor negotiations.

Clerc identified that many North American businesses could still pull cargo shipments forward amid these concerns.

Maersk already predicted that the estimated range for container demand growth would be between 4 percent and 6 percent, an improvement from a prior expectation that it would be toward the upper end of 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent.

In the earnings call, Clerc said he expected strong volumes in the third quarter, but noted that Maersk doesn’t have a clear picture on the demand going into the holiday season.

“How much Christmas decorations, etc. are already in stock in Europe and the U.S…. because they were afraid it will be delayed during the third quarter, I don’t know, and that is why we flag some kind of uncertainty [for the holiday season],” Clerc said.

Despite the slowdown in container demand, Clerc sought to quell fears of a recession in the U.S., telling CNBC that inventories are higher than they were to start 2024.

“We look also at purchase orders from a lot of retailers and consumer brands that need to import into the U.S. for the coming month of demand, and it seems still to be pretty robust,” Clerc told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.

During the earnings call, he repeated this sentiment, also acknowledging that while inventory was high, that it wasn’t “abnormally high” compared to previous years.

Although the retail industry has shown concern over the potential for a strike at the East and Gulf Coast ports come Oct. 1, Clerc said he thought a dockworker work stoppage was “highly unlikely.”