RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index: World trade weakening

The spring upswing of global port container handling turned out tob e weaker than usual. In May, the Container Throughput Index of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) dropped from a corrected 122.6 to 121.3 points in May.

This still represents a high level of activity, but the drop indicates that world trade growth has lost momentum. The April value was revised downwards by only 0.1 points from last month’s flash forecast. The current flash estimate for May is based on data of 39 ports covering 68% of the container throughput represented in the index. It should therefore not be prone to larger revisions.

The Index is based on data of 75 world container ports covering approximately 60% of worldwide container handling. The ports are continuously monitored by the ISL as part of their market analysis. Because large parts of international merchandise trade are transported by ship, the development of port handling is a good indicator for world trade. As many ports release information about their activities only two weeks after the end of the respective month, the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is a reliable early indicator for the development of international merchandise trade and hence for the activity of the global economy.

The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for June 2014 will be published on July 24th.
Source: Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics