TRACS Shipping Activity Overview
Below we show some of the seaborne trade and shipping demand data extracted from TRACS – Oceanic’s proprietary vessel tracking system.
Some of the interesting points to note for 2024 are:
Shipping demand in terms of the tonnage exported is only marginally above the pre-Covid-19 levels – (Chart 1 below)
Shipping demand in tonne-mile terms is at an all-time high and growth in 2024 is continuing the very strong growth from 2023. The exceptional growth in 2024 is driven by the effective closure of the Suez Canal and
the continuing low water levels in the Panama Canal. This in addition to the continuing growth in commodity exports from the Atlantic Basin to the Pacific – (Charts 2 and 3)
The longer trade routes lead to more cargo in transit – boosting effective inventories of several commodities – (Chart 4)
The fleet is continuing to slow down to reduce fuel consumption and emissions and meet increasingly stringent environmental criteria (Chart 5)
The congestion experienced during and in the immediate aftermath of Covid-19 has normalised and released additional fleet capacity to meet the increasing tonne-mile demand (Chart 6)
The Panama Canal has suffered drought conditions since the middle of last year - this has led to a considerable reduction in the canal traffic which has been rerouted round the Capes of Good Hope or Cape Horn – this is predicted to last into 2024 (Chart 7)
The traffic passing through the Suez Canal is continuing to drop in 2024 to date - forcing more traffic to go round the Cape of Good Hope (Chart 8)