Global trade’s recovery from COVID-19 crisis hits record high

World trade’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis hit a record high in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by 10% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter, according to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update. According to the report, the impressive rebound in Q1 2021 continued to be driven by the strong export performance of East Asian economies. Read more →

WTO Director General calls for action on trade finance

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala emphasized the importance of trade finance in low to middle-income countries due to declining private trade credit line availability, the reduced number of government schemes to help importers and exporters and the frequent lack of ECA support to make trade finance available to businesses. Read more →

MineHub and Contour partner to drive digitisation in metals and mining industry

MineHub and Contour have partnered to integrate their digital supply chain and trade finance technology solutions for the global metals and mining industry. MineHub’s platform provides real-time visibility and collaboration of upstream and downstream supply chains, while Contour brings together banks, corporates and other ecosystem partners on a common, digital network for trade finance. Read more →

HSBC launches multi-currency wallet for international payments

HSBC Global Wallet is fully integrated within the bank’s existing business banking platform and removes the need for businesses to use third-party providers for international transactions. Clients can now ‘pay like a local’ by sending and receiving money in a number of currencies, and holding and managing those currencies in the same Global Wallet account. Read more →

Afreximbank Closes Historic US$1.3 billion bond

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) successfully closed a US$1.3 billion dual tenor bond issuance. The transaction is a major milestone for Afreximbank, marking the second time that the Bank has accessed the 144A US market and is the Bank’s largest transaction in the debt capital markets to date. Read more →

Abu Dhabi Exports Office and TDB bolster Emirati trade with Africa through a $30m USD trade finance line

Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) has signed a USD 30 million line of credit agreement with Trade and Development Bank (TDB) to bolster trade between the UAE and the Bank’s Member States. The partnership is the first of its kind to be signed by ADEX with a foreign financial institution. Read more →

UK prepares to launch new trade deal negotiations with Canada and Mexico

The UK is to begin negotiations for upgraded trade deals with Canada and Mexico this year focused on creating even greater opportunities for UK businesses in industries of the future such as digital, data and services. A call for input will ask for views from the public, businesses and other stakeholders on what the UK’s ambitions should be for these free trade agreements. Read more →

UK offers Australia a tariff-free trade deal despite farmers’ fears

The UK offered a trade deal to Australia. UK farmers reacted angrily to the terms, which would phase out tariffs and quotas on imports of Australian food, amid concerns UK beef and lamb farmers could be undercut by larger Australian producers. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned that freeing up the UK-Australian trade in meat will lead to hundreds of British cow and sheep breeders going out of business. Read more →

ICC WCF announces Certificate of Origin Accreditation Chain expansion

Bandar Abbas Chamber, Irish Chambers of Commerce, Los Angeles Area Chamber and the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce are the latest members to enter the International Certificate of Origin (CO) Accreditation Chain, managed by ICC’s World Chamber Federation (WCF). This certified mark is crucial as it assures banks, businesses, customs administrations and traders that their COs have been issued according to the most stringent certification standards. Read more →