International Trade and Finance

In 2025, global maritime trade continues to navigate an environment marked by volatility, rerouted flows and uncertainty. Persistent geopolitical tensions and trade policy changes have altered shipping patterns, with many routes redirected away from traditional chokepoints. Maritime transport and trade face daunting challenges. Ships that once passed through the Red Sea in days now sail for weeks around the Cape of Good Hope. Freight rates are high and volatile. Port disruption is becoming chronic. Supply chain reliability and resilience are being put to the test. Longer routes have increased delays, costs and emissions, with developing countries hit hard by the disruptions and uncertainty. Deep transitions are also reshaping the sector. Technological, environmental and geoeconomic shifts are converging at a speed that requires rethinking how maritime transport operates. Alternative fuel vessels now represent over half of the ship tonnage of new orders, yet over 90% of the active fleet still runs on conventional fuels. Automation and digitalization promise efficiency but also heighten cyber risks. Maritime transport has weathered storms before. But never have so many transitions converged so quickly. The sector will adapt. The question is whether adaptation will be managed or chaotic, inclusive or divisive, sustainable or merely survivable. The Review of Maritime Transport 2025 provides the framework needed for informed action and sound policymaking to keep trade flowing in a turbulent world.

The Review of Maritime Transport 2025 was prepared by UNCTAD, under the overall guidance of Angel González Sanz and Torbjörn Fredriksson, Officers-in-Charge, Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD, by a team comprising Regina Asariotis (coordination), Mark Assaf, Celine Bacrot, Hassiba Benamara, Liliane Flour, Poul Hansen, Argyro Kepesidi, Tomasz Kulaga, Luisa Rodríguez, Hidenobu Tokuda, Frida Youssef and Arouna Zorome. The report also benefited from internal review and feedback from across UNCTAD.

The performance of ports – key transport nodes that facilitate trade – is pivotal to the competitiveness of maritime transport chains. Efficient port operations reduce delays, lower transaction costs and enhance the seamless movement of goods across international borders.

Freight rate volatility is becoming the new normal across all shipping segments, driven by continued geopolitical tensions, shifting trade policy, regulatory developments, and persistent supply and demand imbalances. Considering trends discussed in chapters I and II, this chapter analyses freight rate developments in the container, dry bulk and tanker shipping segments from January 2024 to mid-2025.

In 2025, global maritime trade continues to navigate an environment marked by volatility, rerouted flows and uncertainty. Persistent geopolitical tensions and trade policy changes have altered shipping patterns, with many routes redirected away from traditional chokepoints.

This study points to different production and trade integration approaches adopted by countries in the global fibre industry. China has integrated the textile and textile products industries, maintaining a strong presence at all processing stages, dominating fabric exports in most fibre types. China’s predominance can be explained by its vast processing capacity, its domestic production of both natural and man-made fibres, which has allowed its textile and apparel industries to produce low-cost and versatile textile products as demanded inter alia by the fashion industry. India follows a similar but more focused approach, concentrating on sectors where it has a strong presence, particularly cotton and jute. In contrast, countries such as Viet Nam and Türkiye have adopted a process-oriented integration model, specializing in yarn and fabric production, and relying heavily on imported raw materials. Italy represents yet another approach, focusing on high-value segments and building competitive advantage through design and quality in high-end fabric exports. The remainder of the analysis is organized as follows. First, it examines production and trade patterns for different fibre types and product categories, providing detailed data on volumes and values. Second, it analyzes market access conditions, including both tariff and NTMs, and their evolution over time. Third, it examines production and trade integration patterns.

Trade patterns closely relate to access conditions prevailing internationally, with Tariffs and Non-Tariff Measures being major components of market access.

Both values and volumes are reported for a selected set of fibre types and for three product categories according to processing (i.e., raw, yarn, and fabric).