Ed Richardson
WORLD SEABORNE trade continued to expand in 1998, breaking the five billion tons mark for the first time.
But its annual growth rate fell by half, to 2,2%, in 1998 - the lowest rate since 1987 - and is not expected to exceed that level in 1999, according to the annual UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport.
The report says the slower growth in seaborne trade reflects the decline of world merchandise trade (3,5% in 1998 compared with 10,5% in 1997) in the aftermath of the Asian crisis.
The estimated growth of tanker shipments in 1999 is put at 1,9% by UNCTAD.
However, growth in the transport of dry cargo is expected to slow to 2,3% overall, even though the volume of main dry bulk commodities will probably grow at a similar rate to that in 1998.
In 1998, world dry cargo shipments grew by 3,7 % while tanker shipments increased marginally by 0,4 %.
The volume of dry bulk trades in iron ore and grain declined by 2,3 % and 6,4 % respectively. Coal was again the most important commodity traded, with a volume increase of 2,6%.
Total liner shipments of containerized cargoes in 1998, worldwide, registered an increase of only 1,8%, after having grown by 8,5% in 1997.
The share of developing countries in total world cargo loaded remained virtually unchanged, at 51 %. As in the past, their share reflects the heavy preponderance of crude oil shipments (84,1% of world total), over dry cargo (31,2% of world total).
Notwithstanding a sustained high level of imports of dry cargo (30,2%) including manufactured goods, developing countries' share of total cargo unloaded decreased slightly to 27,6%. The share of Asian developing countries in goods loaded and unloaded went down marginally, to 26,2 % and 18,6% respectively.
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