In line with the observations since the beginning of this year, the international exchange of goods continued the move sideways last month. This is indicated by the Container Throughput Index of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL). Although the seasonally adjusted index slightly increases from 115.9 (corrected) to 116.3 in July, its value is still below the peak in January 2013. The current flash estimate for July is based on data of 38 ports, covering 75% of container throughput shown in the index.
Compared to the flash estimate released a month ago, the index for June was raised by 0.6 points. Even the months of May and April are now slightly better represented due to the input of missing data to the previous calculation. However, in total the revisions match with the previous average and do not change the basic trend of the indicator which is rather subdued.
The Index is based on data of 73 world container ports covering approximately 60% of worldwide container handling. The ports are continuously monitored by the ISL as part of its market analysis. Because large parts of international merchandise trade are transported by ship, the development of port handling is a good indicator for world trade. As many ports release information about their activities only two weeks after the end of the respective month, the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is a reliable early indicator for the development of international merchandise trade and hence for the activity of the global economy.
