Maersk Bullish on India
Domestic reforms have slowed down India’s trade momentarily, thereby weakening domestic demand. However, A.P. Moller – Maersk expects Indian EXIM trade to pick up pace in the next quarter.
“This dip in import growth was due to piling up of inventory in the market post demonetisation and lack of clarity around Good and Service Tax. It is noteworthy that despite the looming threat of the current geopolitical environment worldwide on global trade, India has been able to maintain its growth trajectory,” Franck Dedenis, Head of West Central Asia Trades said.
Policies such as GST are taking final shape and the global economic outlook for 2017 is offering favourable prospects. According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) the value of goods shipped around the globe is expected to grow by around 2-4% in 2017, up from just 1-3% in 2016.
Container trade growth signifies an overall improvement in the global economy as compared to 2016. In the past two quarters, global demand picked up by around 4-5%, driven by improvements in most regions, especially Far East, North America and Latin America imports.
A.P. Moller – Maersk expects global container trade to grow by 2-4% in 2017. Imports in Asia and the US will lead the trend, supported by a reversion of past year’s developments in Latin America and later in Africa.
India's growth performance has indeed been stronger than global trade, which in the past two quarters has increased to around 4-5%, driven by improvements in exports to regions such as Far East, North America and Latin America.
Indian refrigerated cargo has been growing consistently with the demand for commodities like vegetables, meats and sea food on the rise. Infact, India has consolidated its top spot as the largest exporter of beef to Vietnam.