Record TPM opens as ‘difficult’ transpacific contract negotiations get underway (link)
The fortunes of the container market will become clearer this week as close to 4,000 delegates descend on Long Beach for the 24th edition of TPM, the sector’s top annual event.
The summit, which runs from Sunday to Wednesday, brings together lines and shippers to hammer out contracts and comes at a time where container shipping fortunes are slipping from their recent Red Sea-induced highs.
Empty container movements increase by 20% (link)
The demand for transporting empty containers has surged much more than the demand for transporting full ones, with back-haul trades expanding 2½ times faster.
By analysing data sourced from Container Trade Statistics (CTS) on the movement of full containers between regions, it is evident that the expansion of empty container volumes, when compared to 2019 (excluding the significant fluctuations caused by the pandemic), has hovered around the 20% threshold over recent months.
Inflation in the Philippines jumps as rice prices remain elevated (link)
Philippine February inflation jumped to 3.4%YoY from 2.8% in January, much higher than expectations for an increase to 3.0%. Prices were up 0.6% from the previous month driven once again by food inflation, in particular rice. Rice prices rose more than 20%YoY owing to tight supply conditions. Overall food inflation rose 4.6%YoY, a pickup from the 3.5%YoY increase recorded in January possibly due to the onset of the El Nino weather phenomenon. Meanwhile, transport inflation settled at 1.2%YoY compared to the -0.3%YoY recorded in January.
Ukraine needs long-term plan for food exports to EU, official says (link)
BRUSSELS, March 4 (Reuters) – The European Union must allow Ukrainian food producers access to EU markets long term, rather than just extending measures year by year, leaving them at the mercy of political pressures, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday.
Ukraine wants to permanently remove tariffs and quotas on EU agricultural imports by updating its trade deal with the EU, or at least extend the current suspension for three years, Markiyan Dmytrasevych, deputy minister for agrarian policy and food, said.
Germany: Exports in January 2024: +6.3% on December 2023 (link)
Exports (calendar and seasonally adjusted exports of goods), January 2024
135.6 billion euros
+6.3% on the previous month
+0.3% on the same month a year earlier
Imports (calendar and seasonally adjusted imports of goods), January 2024
108.0 billion euros
+3.6% on the previous month
-8.3% on the same month a year earlier
Foreign trade balance (calendar and seasonally adjusted), January 2024
+27.5 billion euros
Thailand Eliminates Tariffs and Reduces Excise Taxes for Wine (link)
From February 23, 2024, U.S. wines can access the Thai market duty-free and with lower excise taxes. Post estimates that this tariff/tax restructuring will reduce the retail price of U.S. wine by 35-40 percent. In 2023, Thailand imported $132 million worth of wine, of which 8 percent came from the United States.
China’s exports beat forecasts, rise 7.1% in January-February (link)
BEIJING (Reuters) — China’s export and import growth in the January-February period beat forecasts, suggesting global trade is turning a corner in an encouraging signal for policymakers given protracted weakness in manufacturing has been a drag on the economy.
China’s exports in the two months were 7.1% higher than a year before, customs data showed on Thursday, beating a Reuters a poll that expected an increase of 1.9%. Imports were up 3.5%, compared with a poll forecast for growth of 1.5%.
Dutch agricultural exports worth nearly 124 billion euros in 2023 (link)
The Netherlands exported agricultural goods with a total value of 123.8 billion euros in 2023. That was an increase of 1.6 percent relative to 2022. The value of agricultural exports rose by 18.2 percent in 2022 because prices rose by much more in that year than they did in 2023. This is reported by Wageningen Economic Research (WUR) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the basis of joint research commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV).
Big opportunities for rice exports in 2024 (link)
Nguyen Thi Huong, General Director of the General Statistics Office under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, cited the US Department of Agriculture’s forecast data as saying that global rice production in the 2023-2024 crop year will reach nearly 518 million tonnes, while total consumption will be 525 million tonnes. It means that the world will face a shortage of about 7 million tonnes of rice in 2024.
