Last week(W6-2024), the overall FBX index closed at 3393$, 0% WoW.
Transpacific head hauls:
China/East Asia – North America West Coast sits at 4859$ (+11% WoW);
China/East Asia – North America East Coast closed at 6589$ (+3% WoW);
Cross Suez head hauls:
China/East Asia – North Europe: 4697$ (-8% WoW) ;
China/East Asia – Mediterranean: 5758$, (-7% WoW)
The overall index for the same month last year (2023) was at 2005$.
A recent round of U.S. and British strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen raise fresh questions about the impact of container shipping in the Red Sea, as shippers continue to seek alternative means of navigating the crisis.
The strikes, which were conducted on Saturday, spurred threats from Houthi leaders and a warning from Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to President Joe Biden, that any direct response by Iran — rather than through the Houthi rebels it backs — “would be met with a swift and forceful response from us.”
A group of prominent shipping associations have released revised security guidance for navigating the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in response to a series of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis against international shipping from Yemen.
The new guidance was issued by BIMCO, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO, and the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF).
A new 10-year report by the Arctic Council’s Working Group on the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) highlights a substantial increase in shipping across the Arctic Ocean.
The number of vessels operating in the Arctic increased almost 40 percent between 2013 and 2023, from 1,298 per year to 1,782. Fishing vessels remain the single largest category of ships, followed by general cargo ships and bulk carriers.
New mandatory requirements for corporate due diligence reporting on the environmental and social impacts of certain companies have been agreed by the European Union, and are expected to enter into force following European elections in June 2024.
Companies which come under the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (‘CSDDD’) will be required to assess their operations and supply chains for negative impacts on people and the planet.
Specific requirements include:
· Implementing transition plans to ensure that business models align with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
· Mitigating and preventing negative environmental and social impacts, including ending business relationships with upstream or downstream partners when these impacts cannot be mitigated.
· Introducing a complaints mechanism system and meaningfully engaging with complainants.
The CSDDD is the latest example of the European and United Kingdom markets trending towards more, not less, data collection and corporate due diligence towards sustainability. Consequently, firms looking to enter, maintain, or grow their presence in Europe may need to approach sustainability due diligence as a minimum requirement of doing business as opposed to something that adds additional value.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its outlook for global economic growth, with increases for both the US and China. The UN financial agency cited inflation easing more quickly than expected, with its chief economist, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, saying that a ‘soft-landing’ was in sight.
“The global economy continues to display remarkable resilience, with inflation declining steadily and growth holding up,” Gourinchas told reporters in Johannesburg. “We are very far from a global recession scenario.”
The IMF is now forecasting global growth of 3.1% in 2024, up two-tenths of a percentage point on its October forecast. It expects unchanged growth next year, at 3.2%. From 2000 to 2019, global growth averaged 3.8%.
However, Gourinchas cautioned that risks remain, including geopolitical tensions and disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea. Overall growth and global trade remain below historical averages. This uncertainty was echoed in the World Economic Forum’s latest Chief Economists Outlook.
As Türkiye commemorates the first anniversary of the worst earthquake-related disaster to strike the country in more than 80 years, a massive rebuilding and recovery effort is underway. The earthquakes of February 6, 2023 resulted in unprecedented loss of human life, destruction of homes and infrastructure, and damage to the economies of 11 southern provinces, which are home to 14 million people.
US banks continue to tighten lending standards and expect loan quality to deteriorate with write-offs anticipated to rise through 2024. At the same time, loan demand continues to weaken. The economy performed very strongly through the second half of 2023, but high borrowing costs, tight lending conditions and a reluctance to borrow point to a slowdown
China’s January CPI inflation came in at -0.8% YoY, which is the lowest level since September 2009, and marked the fourth consecutive month of negative headline inflation.
By category, the primary drag on inflation continued to be food prices, which fell by 5.9% YoY, the lowest level on record. As expected, pork prices (-17.3% YoY) continued to be a major drag on inflation, while fresh vegetables (-12.7% YoY) and fruit (-9.1% YoY) also contributed to the drag. Food inflation has been in negative territory for 7 consecutive months. However, it is worth noting that this month’s data may look particularly poor due to the holiday effect from last year’s Lunar New Year occurring in January, while this year’s is set for February. Household demand for food products (especially pork) for the holiday feast results in food prices surging around the holiday period.
2023 Full Year growth also at 5.0%
Indonesia’s 4Q23 GDP growth settled at 5.0% YoY, in line with market expectations. The economy grew 0.45% compared to the previous quarter, and economic activity picked up ahead of the upcoming election on 14 February.
Household spending was a key support for growth, up 4.5% YoY, mirroring robust retail sales numbers reported by Bank Indonesia (BI). Government outlays posted growth but were more modest, up roughly 2.8% YoY.
In an unsurprising rebound for Italian industrial production in December, the full breakdown signalled that the tide could soon start to turn for energy-intensive sectors. For the time being, Suez Canal disruptions and soft demand conditions are limiting the scope for a production acceleration over the first quarter.
BEIJING, Feb 5 (Reuters) – When a Beijing-based military institute in September published a patent for a new high-performance chip, it offered a glimpse of China’s bid to remake the half-trillion dollar global chip market and withstand U.S. sanctions.
The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Academy of Military Sciences had used an open-source standard known as RISC-V to reduce malfunctions in chips for cloud computing and smart cars, the patent filing shows.
Vietnam’s import and export turnover stood at 29.78 billion USD in the first half of January, up 5.4% year on year.
Members of a U.S. House panel on climate and energy issues split along party lines Tuesday about the Biden administration’s recent move to pause new approvals of liquified natural gas exports.
Republicans called a hearing to challenge the Energy Department’s announcement last month that it would indefinitely bar new LNG permits to non-free-trade partners as it studies the impacts, including on climate change, of LNG use.
Led by a record-shattering performance in Mexico and broad-based growth in other markets, U.S. pork exports set a value record in 2023, according to year-end data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). While 2023 beef exports were below the record totals posted the previous year, December exports were the largest since August and December export value increased 10% year-over-year.
On January 30, 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) officially informed the WTO about a draft Circular regarding amendments to existing Circulars on the quarantine of terrestrial animals and terrestrial animal products, as outlined in document G/SPS/N/VNM/153. This notification presents an opportunity for Vietnam’s trading partners and stakeholders to provide feedback and comments on the proposed draft. It is important to note that the comment period will only be open for 23 days from the date of notification, with the deadline for submitting public comments set for February 23, 2024. MARD aims to publish the revised Circular on March 1, 2024, and intends for it to come into effect on May 15, 2024. This report provides an UNOFFICIAL translation of the draft Circular.
On January 26, 2024, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) together with the International Trade Administration (ITAC) announced the decision to implement a 25 percent rebate on bone-in cuts and 30 percent rebate on boneless chicken of imported chicken. This decision follows an announcement in October 2023 that ITAC would consider rebates to avoid poultry shortages after the country was affected by a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak. The rebates will be allocated by means of an annual quota that will be valid for 12 months and dependent on confirmation for the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) that the current HPAI outbreak still has an impact on domestic production and supply. The volume of meat that is eligible for the rebate may not exceed a basic annual quota of 172,000 metric tons.
