Hamburg Sud and Maersk launched a service connecting Europe and the key perishables markets of Central America, the Caribbean and the western coast of South America. In northern Europe, Antwerp is the first port of call. A regional feeder network will connect the key ports of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia through transshipment hubs in Panama.
Tonnage on the Suez Canal reached the second highest daily record ever traffic ever recorded on May 22. Specifically, 68 vessels carrying a total of 5.5 million tons sailed through the canal, as Suez Canal Authority Chairman Mohab Mamish informed. More specifically, 37 ships transitted the Suez Canal coming from the north, with a weight of 2.8 million tons, while 31 vessels crossed coming from the south with 2.7 million tons.
Policy, process management, and investment are considered the key challenges for cross-border activity, according to Gene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles. He explained that the Port of LA has seen a large amount of imports over the last year, but its exports were reduced due to retaliatory tariffs.
About half of the 563 million tons handled in Spanish ports in 2018 had a country in the European continent as origin/destination, according to figures released by Ports of the State. In 2018, Spanish ports handled more than 102 million tons of solid bulk.
Due to unresolved trade tensions, high international policy uncertainty and declining business confidence, the UN announced on May 21, a broad-based slowdown in the global economy and cut its growth predictions. UN also informed that a weaker global economy puts essential investments at risk. Developing countries could feel the most impacts.
World trade growth is possible to remain weak into the second quarter of 2019, according to the WTO’s latest World Trade Outlook Indicator, released on 20 May. The new WTOI reading is 96.3, exactly as it was in the previous release in February 2019, maintaining the weakest level since 2010. The latest WTOI is still well below the baseline value of 100 for the index.
Manila-based terminal operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) announced its Ecuadorian subsidiary Contecon Guayaquil set a new operational benchmark after servicing the largest ship to dock in Ecuador.
China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang has declined claims by US President Donald Trump that the two countries had made a deal to stop the trade war. During a Press Conference, Lu Kang mentioned that he is not aware of the deal that the US is talking about. He added that the underlying reason that the 11 rounds of consultations have not managed to conclude on an agreement is that the US attempts to achieve unreasonable demands.
China’s imports of solid waste are continuing to decline in the first four months of 2019, as the country made the enforcement of a ban on solid waste imports tighter. In fact, during last month solid waste imports were less by 1.38 million tonnes compared to March. Imports of plastic, paper and metal waste amounted to a total of 4.74 million tonnes from January to April period.
COSCO confirmed its plans to increase transit shipments on the Northern Sea Route. The shipping giant aspires to operate in the Polar Silk Road and serve international trade between the North Atlantic region and the far east. Explaining why COSCO chose the Northern Sea Route, Chen Feng, General Director of COSCO Marketing and Sales, said that this route is smooth and fast.
