Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk beat third-quarter operating profit forecasts on Wednesday, but said a trade war between the United States and China had hit demand for container shipping.

Maersk, the world's biggest container shipper, said the effect of trade tensions could reduce global container trade between 0.5 and 2 percent during 2019 and 2020.

It said volume growth in container shipping, excluding those from Hamburg Sud, was lower than expected and unexpectedly fell by 1.9 percent from the previous quarter.