Page 6 - Al-Rashed Newsletter April 2021

SHIPPING WORLD
SHIPPING NEWS

Container shipping rates to remain high throughout 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic-induced surge in container shipping rates is
expected to continue throughout 2021 and the price hike will be passed
on to consumers, a United Nations report said.
Policymakers must focus in the long term on further reforms in trade
facilitation and ports, improved tracking and forecasting, and
strengthening national competition authorities, the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said in a policy brief.
“The ripples will hit most consumers,” Jan Hoffmann, head of Unctad’s
trade and logistics branch, said. “Many businesses won’t be able to bear
the brunt of the higher rates and will pass them on to their customers.”
About 80 per cent of the goods we consume are carried by ships, he
said.
Global container shipping rates spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Changes in consumer behaviour and shopping patterns, including an
increase in e-commerce during lockdowns, led to increased demand for
imported consumer goods, a large part of which is moved in shipping
containers. Container rates have an impact on global trade since almost
all manufactured goods – including clothes, medicines and processed
food products – are shipped in containers.

Climate change: Shipping industry calls for a new global carbon tax
The global shipping industry is calling on the world's governments to tax
its carbon emissions.
Groups that represent more than 90% of the global fleet say the measure
is needed to tackle climate change.
"A global solution is the only one that's going to work", Guy Platten,
secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping told the BBC.
The tax would incentivise ship owners to invest in new technology, he
said.
The shipping sector is one of the big carbon emitters and is responsible
for more than 2% of global emissions. If the industry was a country it
would be the sixth biggest polluter, above Germany.

DID YOU KNOW?

During your lifetime you will produce
enough saliva to fill 50 bathtubs!

Only 5% of the ocean has been
explored.
Recycling just one tin can saves enough
energy to watch television for 3 hours.

Source: thenationalnews,.com, bbc.com