World ocean container trade activity is increasingly reflecting the slowdown in economies other than the already weak US economy, Shipping Digest reported.
The deterioration in the economies of some of the developed countries in Europe and Asia has accelerated, causing Global Insight to revise downward their near-term forecasts of ocean container trade.
The downward revision is from already weak trade volumes forecast for this year and 2009. They have been concerned with the growing number of economic indicators for the European Union that point to a greater loss of consumer confidence than had been previously anticipated.
Indicators now suggest that the EU is headed toward recession. Industrial production in the Eurozone declined 1.9 percent in May, according to recent Eurostat data.
That is the sharpest drop since 1992. In Germany, the government is warning that the economy could contract by as much as 1.5 percent this year, while both Italy and Greece have seen industrial production slump 6.2 percent.
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