The Valencia Containerised Freight Index (VCFI) ended 2022 with a 13.10% drop in December compared to November.
The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) noted that it is the index’s fourth consecutive month of decline in a year marked by uncertainty and market ups and downs.
Congestion levels have continued to fall in recent months, but pre-pandemic levels have not yet been achieved. In December 2022, freight prices declined by 22.61% in Central America and the Caribbean, 17.37% in Latin America and the Pacific, 13.09% in the United States and Canada, 11.43% in the Western Mediterranean, and 7.51% in the Far East.
PAV said that “from the point of view of international trade demand, the scenario remains uncertain and complicated, due to the sustained fall in consumption in an environment of high inflation.”
Proof of this, according to the Spanish port, is the recent reading of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Goods Trade Barometer which indicates a dip in the indicator to 98.3 points, slightly below its reference value of 100 and seven points below the previous measurement, which took place in June and stood at 105.5 points.
The Goods Trade Barometer is a composite indicator for world trade, providing real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends.
