Maritime trade back to pre-pandemic levels
In 2021, international maritime trade recovered to pre-pandemic levels and reached 12 billion t transported, corresponding to approximately 1,5 t per inhabitant of the earth. According to the latest weekly report by analyst Clarksons, international trade by sea in 2021 grew by 3.4%, both in volumes (tonnes) and distances (tonne miles).
2021 saw volumes of around 400 million t coming back which were "lost" in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic. While the greatest recovery involved grain, which grew by 9.1%, the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) followed close behind, with an increase of 6.9% compared to 2019.
The transport of liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) also made a significant recovery (+6%), due to greater demand from China for its petrochemical industry. Number four in the ranking was container throughput.
The volume of boxes handled grew by 4.7% compared to 2019, mainly due to the stimulus measures adopted in various countries, the change from 'consumption of services' to 'consumption of goods' and a general improvement in macroeconomic trends. (sh)