War sends world trade down 2.8%, Kiel Institute says

Global trade fell 2.8 per cent between February and March as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a sharp drop in container ship traffic from the two countries, according to the Kiel Institute of the World Economy.

The biggest impact was on trade with Russia, as imports into the country fell 9.7 per cent in March from the previous month, while Russian exports fell 5 per cent, according to the Kiel Institute’s trade indicator. The indicator tracks shipping data from 500 ports in real-time.

“Real distortions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the west, as well as a high level of uncertainty among companies with relations to Russia, are noticeably setting back March trade,” said Vincent Stamer, head of Kiel Trade Indicator.

Shipping container traffic halved in the past month at St Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Novorossiysk, Russia’s three busiest container ports, because of the sanctions imposed on the country and the withdrawal of many western brands, the institute said. Ukraine’s main port at Odesa on the Black Sea had been “practically cut off from international maritime trade”, it added.

See below past trends in Brazil – Russia trade, in terms of Brazilian exports and imports from the Slavic country, in the period between January 2020 to February 2022. The Data are from DataLiner.

Brazilian exports and imports from Russia | Jan 2020 – Feb 2022 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The war in Ukraine also had a chilling effect on EU trade, reducing exports from the bloc by 5.6 per cent in March and imports by 3.4 per cent. The impact on the US was milder, with its exports falling 3.4 per cent and its imports dipping 0.6 per cent.

By contrast, the impact on China was negligible, as its exports fell 0.9 per cent last month, while its imports grew 0.9 per cent. Beijing has been more supportive of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than the west and has not backed international sanctions on Moscow.

Source: Financial Times

To read the full original article, please go to:

https://www.ft.com/content/303ec58a-c8d0-453e-a9d5-bbe43d48207c

Sharing is caring!