Baltimore bridge collapse case: How another wayward container ship showed world trade’s fragility

Baltimore bridge collapse case: How another wayward container ship showed world trade’s fragility

Even before an enormous container ship rammed a bridge in Baltimore in the early hours of Tuesday, sending the span hurtling into the Patapsco River, and halting cargo traffic at a major U.S. port, there was ample reason to worry about the troubles dogging the global supply chain. Between swirling geopolitical winds, the variables of … Read more

How shipping containers can make or break the global economy

How shipping containers can make or break the global economy

The shipping container is a logistics marvel that can affordably move thousands of items from hundreds of different companies all around the globe.  If there is a slowdown in shipping-container circulation, there could be massive supply chain bottlenecks. “The skill involved in containerization is moving that container from point A to point B and getting … Read more

Demand for shipments has risen since Red Sea attacks

Demand for shipments has risen since Red Sea attacks

A China-Europe freight train returning from Russia arrives at a railway container freight center on September 20, 2023 in Manzhouli, China. Liu Wenhua | China News Service | Getty Images Shippers are scrambling to find alternative ways to transport goods from China to Europe in light of the disruption caused by attacks on the Red … Read more

How Yemeni Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea are crimping global trade

How Yemeni Houthi rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea are crimping global trade

The attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have rerouted most of the trade normally flowing through the crucial maritime artery for consumer goods and energy supplies, a shift that’s delaying shipments and raising transport costs. The impact struck home Friday when electric car maker Tesla said it had … Read more

World Bank forecasts 2024 global growth to slow for third consecutive year

World Bank forecasts 2024 global growth to slow for third consecutive year

The World Bank warned on Tuesday that global growth in 2024 is set to slow for a third year in a row, prolonging poverty and debilitating debt levels in many developing countries. Hamstrung by the COVID-19 pandemic, then the war in Ukraine and ensuing spikes in inflation and interest rates around the world, the first … Read more