Banking News

Growing Threats to Global Trade Growth

(4 April 2024 – Global) New pain points have emerged for global supply chains including the Baltimore bridge collapse and Taiwan earthquake, potentially halting the steady recovery in post-pandemic global trade.

Bloomberg reports that its proprietary Trade Tracker presented a marginally weaker reading in April, with three out of ten indicators “below normal” compared two in March. The world’s supply chains are now even more precarious, with continued violence in the Red Sea still forcing containers traveling between Asia and Europe to take longer, costlier routes around Africa.

The Panama Canal will also need at least the rest of this year to fully recover from the 2023 drought that depleted water levels and choked vessel traffic.

"The predicted doubling of global trade offers strong evidence that globalisation is still working, despite recent dislocation. In addition to the growth of intra-regional trade pathways, the corridors of the future will still cut across continents” commented Standard Chartered CEO Corporate & Institutional Banking Europe & the Americas, Simon Cooper.

"Against this backdrop, we continue to focus on making globalisation work for more markets and businesses, ranging from micro to multinational, and drive a more sustainable and inclusive model for global trade. This includes growing our range of sustainable finance solutions to help our corporate clients implement sustainable and fair-trade practices across their supply chains."