Drewry sees volatility - and volumes - on the rise
In its recent assessment, the London (UK)-based maritime consultancy Drewry sees increased volatility in global container throughput, driven by tariff wars and, in the case of the UK, Brexit. After its all-time high in May 2019, the global container port throughput index declined by 1.7% to 130.8 points in June 2019. A dip in June followed by a recovery in July has been the norm over the last few years.
On an annual comparison, the index is 3.1% higher than the June 2018 level of 127.7, reinforcing Drewry's projection of 3% global growth in container port throughput for 2019. The index is 7.1 points higher when compared to June 2017.
Besides, all world regions except Latin America and Africa saw a monthly decline in June 2019. However, the index for Latin America was only marginally higher (0.3%) than in May 2019 and just 0.4% up compared to June 2018. Brazil’s economic woes are therefore beginning to bite. Africa witnessed a monthly increase of 3% but an annual decline of 0.7% in June 2019. (cd)