Category: Economics

In addition to fast-rising ocean freight rates and extended transit times, as the container shipping lines divert around Africa, shippers have been struggling to understand what (if any) insurance is in place, with insurance companies massively increasing war risk premiums and no longer willing t... Read more

On the 17th January 2024, the 33rd day of the Red Sea crisis, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced that they were forming a new shipping alliance - The Gemini Cooperation - in a major shake-up to the container shipping market on the East-West trade lanes. Industry analysts have been predicting tha... Read more

The US and UK carried out eight strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Monday, as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea, with no sign that the conflict will de-escalate anytime soon. While many hoped that the situation in the Red Sea might be a shor... Read more

Since December 2023, nearly 30 commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea have faced missile strikes or near misses from the Yemen-based Houthis, including container ships owned by Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM. As of last week, 550 container ships have been diverted away from the Suez Canal or are p... Read more

For the UK and Europe fears are growing that any prolonged denial of access to the Suez Canal could impact faltering economies and derail plans to start cutting interest rates later this year. Despite the confidence of European and UK central banks, uncertainties about the Red Sea crisis' impa... Read more

Carmakers had been struggling with a lack of car carrier RoRo capacity before the Houthi attacks began in the Red Sea and now with NYK and K Line suspending sailings via the Suez Canal nearly all big car car-carrier operators are diverting round the Cape of Good Hope, further reducing already squ... Read more

The UK government launched a new preferential trading scheme, The Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) last year, to provide tariff concessions for developing countries exporting to the UK market. The DCTS replaces the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) and extends tariff cuts to hu... Read more

The significant drop in UK inflation from 8.7% in May to 7.9% in June is the first fall since last November, and is a 15 month low that could hopefully be a turning point in the cost of living crisis. Global logistics is the barometer for UK trade and the health of the economy both within the ... Read more

On 22nd June the Bank of England surprised markets and the public with the size of their latest rate hike, increasing their Base rate to 5% from 4.5%, putting the rate at the highest level for 15 years, with implications for shippers and supply chains. Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, ... Read more

The weakening pound creates winners and losers in international trade, with UK exporters, manufacturers and popular brands looking cheap to overseas buyers, while importers face higher input costs, which adds to the UK’s inflationary cycle. Despite the pound rising to $1.14 - after falling t... Read more

Sterling's sensitivity to global stock markets has it struggling against the Euro and Dollar and stabilisation in global market conditions, to stop the continued August falls, is unlikely in the short term, it is predicted. The Pound slumped sharply against both currencies as fears o... Read more

KPMG the respected business global consultancy and one of the Big Four accounting firms is expecting GDP growth to more than halve this year, with consumer slowing consumer spending and recession in 2023. In its latest UK Economic Outlook report KPMG said it expects GDP growth to more than hal... Read more