Reflecting stumbling growth in the world economy, world seaborne shipments grew by an average of just 3.8% in 2013, taking total volumes to nearly 9.6 billion tons, UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 20141 reports. Much of the expansion in seaborne trade was driven by growth in dry cargo flows, in particular bulk commodities, which grew by 5.6%. Meanwhile, world container port throughput increased by an estimated 5.6% to 651.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2013.
The new Report also reveals that the size of the world fleet reached a total of 1.69 billion deadweight tonnage in January 2014, following 4.1% growth in 2013. Bulk carriers accounted for 42.9% of the total tonnage, followed by oil tankers (28.5%) and container ships (12.8%). This rate of growth was lower than that observed during any of the previous 10 years, and the trend in early 2014 suggests an even lower growth rate for the current year. The slowdown reflects the downturn of the largest historical shipbuilding cycle, which peaked in 2012.
As for future vessel deliveries, during 2013, for the first time since the economic and financial crisis in 2008, the order book increased slightly for most vessel types.
