Tag: UNCTAD

The UNCTAD has issued its 'Review of Maritime Transport 2016' which argues that the long-term growth prospects for seaborne trade and maritime businesses are positive. There are ample opportunities for developing countries to generate income and employment and help promote foreign trade.

UNCTAD has launched a novel set of Maritime Country Profiles. A maritime country profile provides a basic snapshot of a country’s situation regarding maritime transport and international trade, facilitating convenient cross-country comparisons.

UNCTAD infographic depicts how global shipping fleet grew and the economix, environmental and social challenges that ports face (please click on images for a larger view)

Greece, Japan, China, Germany and Singapore control more than half of the world tonnage According to theUNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2015, the world fleet grew by 3.5per cent during the 12months to 1 January 2015, the lowest annual growth rate in over a decade. In total, at the beginning of the year, the worlds commercial fleet consisted of 89,464vessels, with a total tonnage of 1.75billion dwt. For the first time since the peak of the shipbuilding cycle, the average age of the world fleet increased slightly during 2014. Given the delivery of fewer newbuildings, combined with reduced scrapping activity, newer tonnage no longer compensated for the natural aging of the fleet.Greece continues to be the largest ship-owning country, followed by Japan, China, Germany and Singapore. Together, the top five ship-owning countries control more than half of the world tonnage. Five of the top 10 ship-owning countries are from Asia, four are European and one is from the Americas. The Review of Maritime Transport further illustrates the process of concentration in liner shipping.While the container-carrying capacity per provider per country tripled between 2004 and 2015, the average number of companies that provide services from/to each countrys ports decreased by 29per ...

The share of global goods loaded at developing country seaports was estimated at 60 per cent in 2014, while the import demand of developing countries, as measured by the volume of goods unloaded at their seaports, reached 61 per cent, UNCTAD data show.

African countries pay more for international transport than any other region

The worlds commercial shipping fleet grew at lowest rate in 10 years in 2014 The worlds commercial fleet grew by 3.5 per cent during the 12 months to 1 January 2015, the lowest annual growth rate in over a decade, the UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2015 reveals. At the beginning of the year, the fleet totalled 89,464 vessels, with overall 1.75 million in deadweight tonnage. Despite its economic troubles, Greece remained the leading ship-owning country, with Greek companies accounting for more than 16 per cent of the world industry, followed by companies from Japan, China, Germany and Singapore. Together, the top five ship-owning countries control more than half of the world deadweight tonnage. Five of the top 10 ship-owning countries are from Asia, four from Europe and one the United States of America from continental America. Over the last decade, China, Hong Kong (China), the Republic of Korea and Singapore have moved up in the ranking of largest ship-owning countries, while Germany, Norway and the United States have a lower market share today than in 2005. In South America, the largest ship-owning country (in deadweight tonnage) continues to be Brazil, followed by Mexico, Chile and Argentina. The African country ...

Infographic: Review of Maritime Transport 2015

World seaborne trade grew by just 3.8% in 2013 Reflecting stumbling growth in the world economy, world seaborne shipments grew by an average of just 3.8 per cent in 2013, taking total volumes to nearly 9.6 billion tons, UNCTAD'sReview of Maritime Transport 2014 reports.Much of the expansion in seaborne trade was driven by growth in dry cargo flows, in particular bulk commodities, which grew by 5.6 per cent, the Report says. Meanwhile, world container port throughput increased by an estimated 5.6 per cent to 651.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2013.The new report also reveals that the size of the world fleet reached a total of 1.69 billion deadweight tonnage in January 2014, following 4.1 per cent growth in 2013. Bulk carriers accounted for 42.9 per cent of the total tonnage, followed by oil tankers (28.5 per cent) and container ships (12.8 per cent).This rate of growth was lower than that observed during any of the previous 10 years, and the trend in early 2014 suggests an even lower growth rate for the current year, the Report says. The slowdown reflects the downturn of the largest historical shipbuilding cycle, which peaked in 2012.As for future vessel deliveries, during 2013, ...

A MoU was signed by UNCTAD Secretary-General and senior representatives of two Irish ports at the Palais des Nations in Geneva