Seaborne trade continues to grow

Ed Richardson WORLD SEABORNE trade boasted its fifteenth consecutive annual increase in absolute terms in 2000, reaching a record high of 5.88 billion tons, according to UNCTAD. However, the growth rate of 3.6% probably dropped to 2% in 2001. The projected decline is mainly attributable to the impact of the economic downturn observed in the US and to a lesser extent in Europe. The report says that strong demand in North America, Western Europe and East Asia, as the main engines of global trade expansion in 2000, contributed to the continued growth in world seaborne trade.