RWI / ISL container throughput index: World trade recovery is weakening

The container throughput index of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute for Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) fell slightly to 121.0 in November according to the current flash estimate. Container throughput seems to be stabilizing at a high level.

The main results:

The container throughput index of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute for Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) fell slightly from (revised) 121.6 to 121.0x in November, seasonally adjusted.

• In the Chinese ports in particular, throughput decreased. In the other ports, the increase in throughput only flattened out.

• The North Range Index, which provides information on economic development in the northern euro area and in Germany, improved again significantly from 111.6 to 113.0. This indicator has now also reached its level from before the Corona crisis.

• The RWI / ISL container throughput index for December 2020 will be published on January 29, 2021.

Regarding the development of the container throughput index, RWI economic chief Torsten Schmidt says: “Container throughput seems to be stabilizing at a high level. World trade has apparently largely recovered from its slump in the spring.”

About the RWI/ISL container throughput Index:

The index includes the data on container transhipment in 91 international ports, which are continuously collected by the ISL as part of its market observation and account for around 60 percent of global container transhipment. Since international trade is mainly handled by sea, container transhipments allow reliable conclusions to be drawn about world trade. Because many ports already report on their activities two weeks after the end of a month, the RWI/ISL Container Handling Index is a reliable early indicator of the development of international trade in processed goods and thus also of global economic activity.

Data series for individual ports are available in the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor.
For more information on the RWI/ISL container throughput Index, please visit www.rwi-essen.de/containerindex.

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Your contact persons:

Prof. Dr. Torsten Schmidt, Phone: +49 201 8149-287
Sabine Weiler (Kommunikation), Phone: +49 201 8149-213

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Data RWI/ISL container throughput Index

Graphic in printable resolution RWI/ISL container throughput Index

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RWI/ISL container throughput Index: Northrange