Freight rates have continued to fall as global trade volumes slow as a result of shrinking demand for goods, the latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed.

While freight rates have also fallen due to the easing in supply chain disruptions that were built up over the pandemic, a lot of the slowdown in container and vessel demand was due to weaker cargo movement.

The World Trade Organization latest Goods Trade Barometer shows the volume of world merchandise trade has plateaued. Year‐on‐year growth for the first quarter of the year slowed to 3.2%, down from 5.7% in the final quarter of 2021.

Freight rates have continued to fall as global trade volumes slow as a result of shrinking demand for goods, the latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed.

While freight rates have also fallen due to the easing in supply chain disruptions that were built up over the pandemic, a lot of the slowdown in container and vessel demand was due to weaker cargo movement, according to the research group.

“Much reduced port congestion level, along with weaker cargo arrivals, was one of the major reasons behind significant decrease in freight rates,” S&P said in a note on Wednesday.

“Based on expectation of weaker trade volume, we do not expect extremely high congestion again in the coming quarters.”