Global Trade Prospects and the Urgency to Tighten Up on Food Security

Even though the USA and Europe have put in place a mechanism to ensure that vessels are shepherded along key routes, big shipping companies like CMA-CGM, Maersk Line and others, have taken a decision that they will travel around the Cape of Good Hope. In other shipping markets, more oil tankers are also rerouting through the Cape of Good Hope. Despite geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions there is some optimism about maritime trade for 2024 and what is happening at a regional level.

Global trade is affected by what is happening but there seems to be an improvement in the overall outlook for trade in 2024, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says in its latest report. This is especially so for environmental goods such as electric vehicles.

The fly in the ointment is geopolitical tensions which affects some shipping routes, particularly those related to security issues in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. As UNCTAD points out in its February 2024 assessment, this has implications for inflation and food and energy security.