Dispute over trade finance figures

Global trade finance volume saw a dramatic 32% drop in 2013, according to a statement by data aggregator Dealogic, but the trade finance market is disputing these figures. Full-year figures released earlier this month put trade finance volume extended by banks globally at US$124.1bn in 2013 compared to US$181.5bn for 2012. According to Dealogic, this is the largest year-on-year decrease on record. Across the categories of trade finance, ECA (export credit agency) financing dropped the most by 43% to US$70.8 billion in 2013. Other markets covered include structured commodity trade finance, supply chain finance, trade flow business (including letters of credit and guarantees) as well as syndicated trade financing loans. However, several media sources reveal that the trade finance market claims that Dealogic’s statistics are “misrepresentative” of a year in which trade finance, as measured by other metrics, rose.