Global Trade Sees Slight Recovery As Shipping Data Hints Hopeful Signs

Global Trade Sees Slight Recovery As Shipping Data Hints Hopeful Signs

This offers a hopeful sign for world merchandise trade, which suffered a historic year-on-year fall of 27% in the second quarter, said the UNCTAD report.

Maritime shipping saw a dramatic slowdown earlier this year as government measures used to curb the Covid-19 pandemic restricted economic activities and travel. By mid-June, the average number of container vessels arriving weekly at ports worldwide had sunk to 8,722, an 8.5% year-on-year drop.

But new data show that, globally, the average weekly calls have started to recover, rising to 9,265 by early August, just 3% below the levels of one year earlier.

"Most of the manufactured goods that we produce and consume are shipped in containers,“ said Shamika N Sirimanne, director of UNCTAD's technology and logistics division. "The latest containership port call patterns therefore offer a ray