World Trade Organization (WTO) has released their ’Global Trade Outlook and Statsistics Report’ and it is looking positive.

These are comments from the WTO Cheif Economist Ralph Ossa:

”The latest edition of the WTO’s Global Trade Outlook and Statistics foresees a gradual recovery in world merchandise trade volume in 2024 and 2025. This follows a contraction in 2023 driven by the lingering effects of high energy prices and inflation in advanced economies, particularly Europe. So, what does our forecast indicate?

Specifically, we expect merchandise trade to grow by 2.6% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025 after falling by 1.2% in 2023. However, there is a downside risk due to regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic policy uncertainty”.

You can read more of his comments here: WTO Blog

Exciting day in Yokohama. The namegiving of our third methanol enabled vessel, Astrid Mærsk. It made its way to Japan from Korea on green methanol, sourced by our great Energy Markets team.


Godspeed, Astrid Mærsk, may you have fair winds and following seas.

data reveals a staggering 59.7% surge in container volume demand from #China to #Mexico in January 2024 compared to the January 2023. With volumes soaring from 73,000 TEU to 117,000 TEU (source: Container Trades Statistics), this trade route emerges as one of the world’s fastest-growing.

Two pivotal factors fuel this remarkable growth:


1.The rise in #China imports into #Mexico, destined for re-exportation to the #US, circumventing tariffs imposed on direct imports from China.


2.Increasing shipments of raw materials from #China to #Mexico, fuelling the expansion of light industries in #Mexico to cater to the #US market.

As Peter Tirschwell aptly stated in one of his interviews , ‘trade is like water,’ always finding its way around obstacles. The pivotal question isn’t whether #Mexico will become the new China, but rather, whether customers stand to benefit from these evolving trade dynamics.

Read the article here: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-mexico-becoming-the-new-china