New figures showing a dramatic slowdown in trade growth come as another blow to liner operators that have invested billions in mega-containerships.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) forecasts that global trade will grow more slowly than expected in 2016, expanding by just 1.7%, well below the April forecast of 2.8%. Consequently, this year will see the slowest pace of trade and output growth since 2009, during the financial crisis.
That
