According to a study by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one in five vessels in the global container ship fleet is stuck in congestion at a major port. Vessel tracking images (above) show the scale of the problem, with thousands of ships milling off the coast of China, causing long delays and rising prices […]
Australia hosts a Roadshow to highlight Indian trade prospects. A month ago we reported on the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement which was signed on 02 April. Once in force it will see tariffs eliminated on more than 85% of Australian goods exports to India (valued at more than $12.6 billion a year), rising […]
Recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Shanghai, Beijing and other large cities in China have resulted in mass testing, residential lockdowns, closures of schools, businesses and suspension of public transport. Restrictions have markedly impacted international business. China’s latest economic data show the lowest GDP growth expectation in 30 years, rising unemployment, and slowing industrial production – due in […]
Early last year we wrote about signs that the shipping industry is “going green” and the ongoing efforts by individual container line operators to convert to the use of environmentally-friendly fuels to assist in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The Port of Brisbane is playing its part and this month an ANL containerised cargo vessel […]
A whole host of issues, including natural disasters, the Covid pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, have combined into a “perfect storm” that has created a shortage of shipping pallets, both nationally and worldwide. Recently we have been reporting on the various obstacles facing the global supply chain such as the Covid lockdowns in China […]
Two weeks ago we reported on the ban on export of luxury goods to Russia. Now Australia has hit both Russia and Belarus with a new round of import tariffs – including a total ban on Russian oil. The new trade sanctions are likely to further exacerbate spikes in fertiliser costs, placing additional strain on […]
A press release from the World Trade Organization (WTO) yesterday (12 April 2022) raised some red flags about issues putting the “fragile global trade recovery at risk.” They note that prospects for the global economy have darkened since the outbreak of war in Ukraine on 24 February, prompting WTO economists to reassess their projections for […]
The Federal Government has banned the export of Australian luxury goods, such as wine, racehorses and perfume, to Russia in a further wave of sanctions over the Ukraine invasion. Other banned items include leather goods like handbags, furs, rugs, carpets, lobster, truffles, perfume, jewellery, make-up products and luxury clothing worth more than $500 an item. […]
In February we reported on Australia’s imminent Free Trade Agreement with India. Today, the major story is that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will witness the signing of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement today, Saturday 02 April 2022. The two PMs will be watching via video as Trade […]
Recently we have reported on the disruptions to the supply chain being caused by issues at ports in China. Today worldwide media networks, such as the ABC, BBC and Reuters, are running lead stories about the impact of China’s newly declared lockdowns. China’s financial hub of Shanghai is going into a phased lockdown as the […]
