Unctad optimistic for 2021
In its shipping report "Review of Maritime Transport for 2021", Unctad made it clear that despite the anti-pandemic measures, volumes in fell less dramatically in the course of 2020 than formerly expected: "The shock in the first half of 2020 caused maritime trade to contract by 3.8 % in 2020. But in H2/2021 there was a nascent, if asymmetric, recovery, and by the third quarter, volumes had returned, for both containerised trade and dry bulk commodities."
Containerised trade proved to be resilient, falling by only 1.1% over the year as well as global container port throughput, which in 2020 totalled 815.6 million teu.
In 2020, the global fleet grew by 3% to approx. 98,800 commercial vessels while freight rates surged considerably. Maritime trade volumes reached a level of 10.65 billion t, about 3.8% less than the year before (11.08 billion t).
In world trade, Asia's predominance was further strengthened in 2020 as it maintained its 41% contribution to total goods loaded. Unctad also pointed out one of the major issues to be solved: according to latest estimates by the International Chamber of Shipping, around 250,000 seafarers are still stranded.
For the current year, Unctad remains optimistic: "In 2021, in tandem with the recovery in merchandise trade and world output, maritime trade is projected to increase by 4.3%." (sh)