Trade volumes on trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trade routes are slumping given the cooling effect of inflation and the post-pandemic shift from goods to services on consumer spending, shipping giant Maersk said in its Sept. 23 North American advisory. The result has led to Maersk canceling voyages lest spot rates continue to fall. The trade volumes are softening in September, though they still sit higher than pre-pandemic levels, with director of the Port of Los Angeles saying that it will see its second-busiest year in history.
Oil exports from Iran have dipped in recent months given greater competition from Russia in the Asian market, Bloomberg reported. Dropping from a peak of 1 million barrels of crude oil exports a day to an average of 750,000 barrels, Iran's exports are dealing with direct competition from Russia in countries such as China. The competition has forced Tehran to constantly review and adjust its prices, Bloomberg said.
India's state-run bank, UCO Bank, plans to pen a special rupee account with Russian bank Gazprombank to boost trade between the two countries, a top UCO Bank official said, Bloomberg reported. UCO Bank's managing director and CEO, Soma Sankara Prasad, said that the bank has gotten the needed approval from the Reserve Bank of India, the country's top bank regulator, to open the special account. UCO Bank has previously served as the payment bank for oil imports from Iran. Prasad further explained that the bank will impose operational modalities before opening the account with Gazprombank, clarifying that there is no clear time when the transactions will begin.
China on Sept. 23 announced steps in response to an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Uganda, China's General Administration of Customs said, according to an unofficial translation. To protect the health of "entry and exit officials," China said people from Uganda who have symptoms of the disease should declare that to Customs when entering China; Customs health and quarantine personnel will then follow the prescribed procedures. Owners of containers and goods shall impose sanitation treatment pursuant to China's prescribed procedures, the Customs Administration said. These steps will be in place for six months.
China banned the import of cloven-hoofed animals and products therefrom coming from a certain area in Botswana to prevent the further spread of foot-and-mouth disease found in the African nation, China's General Administration of Customs announced Sept. 21, according to an unofficial translation. The disease was reported in a village in northeast Botswana.
China in a Sept. 21 notice imposed quarantine and sanitary requirements on imports of buffalo embryos from Pakistan, the General Administration of Customs announced, according to an unofficial translation. The measures apply to embryos made via in vitro fertilization by collecting oocytes from the live ovaries of water buffalo in the production units registered by China and Pakistan in Pakistan. China said an entry buffalo embryo quarantine permit is required for each batch of buffalo embryos. The customs administration said the farm where the donor animals are located, along with the surrounding 50-kilometer area, must not have rinderpest, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, bovine pleuropneumonia, peste des petits ruminants and bluetongue disease in the past three years. Among other restrictions, China said there must be no sign of infection diseases within the 24 hours before the egg or semen is collected.
Indian multinational conglomerate the Adani Group will start development on a $3 billion port project in India's West Bengal state, Bloomberg reported Sept. 21. Per a statement from the state government, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, led by Gautam Adani, the world's second-richest man, was selected to develop the Tajpur port. Adani Ports already has a 30% domestic market share of the private port industry and has secured global projects including in Israel and Sri Lanka, Bloomberg said. The local government expects the project to add 25,000 direct jobs and over 100,000 indirect jobs.
Nepal recently extended an import ban on certain luxury goods and removed restrictions on other items, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 20. The restrictions, which were set to expire at the end of August (see 2207290010), were extended until Oct 14, covering certain mobile phones, motorcycles, liquor and cars. Nepal also lifted import restrictions on certain toys, snacks, playing cards, diamonds, televisions and tobacco products.
India recently began a new trade clearance process that will subject imports to a “uniform risk‑based assessment system,” the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 20. The system will seek to standardize the country’s customs examinations and reduce clearance costs and times, the report said, adding that imported goods will “no longer all be required to undergo a full physical examination.” The system will be rolled out in stages for various imports. The first phase, which took effect this month, applies to imported metals.
Kazakhstan recently ended its export restrictions on wheat and wheat flour, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a recent report. The restrictions had been in place since April (see 2204290010) and extended through Sept. 30 (see 2206270011), the agency said, but the government ended the restrictions this month due to “initial reports of a good fall grain harvest.” Kazakhstani exporters had used 83% of the wheat and 66% of the wheat flour export quotas.