Global port container tonnage in May has turned out to be weaker than usual, indicative of a slowdown in world trade, according to the updated Container Throughput Index for the month of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL).
The revised RWI/ISL index shows container throughput in May dropping from the initial 122.6 points to 121.3 points.
“This still represents a high level of activity, but the drop indicates that world trade growth has lost momentum,” said the RWI/ISL report, noting the difference between the May and April revisions. “The April value was revised downwards by only 0.1 points from last month’s flash forecast.”
The current flash estimate for May is based on data of 39 ports covering 68 percent of the container throughput represented in the index. It should therefore not be prone to larger revisions, the report said.
For April, the Container Throughput Index released late last month showed a slight improvement, climbing from the initial estimate of 122.3 to 122.5 points, demonstrating the continued upward trend in global trade since fall 2013.
The monthly Container Throughput Index is based on data of 75 world container ports covering about 60 percent of worldwide container handling and is an early indicator for the development of international merchandise trade and the activity of the global economy.
