Dry bulk imports into Northwest Europe have been steadily recovering since the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic in mid 2020. But growth has accelerated since the Russian invasion and volumes are now higher than pre pandemic levels.
As shown in Figure 2 below, much of the increase is driven by flows from within Europe. In the April to June period, trade flows from within the region increased by 6.9 million tons, or 21% on the same period last year. Intra-Northwest Europe trade was 8.2 million tons higher, more than offsetting a 2.9 million ton drop in imports from the Baltic Sea region, where there are several key Russian ports. |