Japan, South Korea drive positive outlook for global trade in Q2 2018

• DHL Global Trade Barometer forecasts accelerating trade growth for Asia's four largest economies
• India's trade growth remains the highest for the second quarter in  a row
• Air and ocean freight volumes expected to rise, supporting the economic development of South Korea, Japan, China and India

TOKYO, JAPAN - Media OutReach - 13 April 2018 - The Asia Pacific region's booming economy looks set to power global trade growth in the coming quarter, according to data from the DHL Global Trade Barometer released by DHL, the world's leading logistics company. The DHL Global Trade Barometer, an early indicator of global trade developments calculated using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, predicts an overall positive outlook for all four of Asia's largest economies.

The Barometer's results suggest that South Korea and Japan are on track for significant acceleration in trade growth, even as India and China maintain some of the highest growth rates amongst the world's largest economies. Strong growth in ocean freight across Asia Pacific, coupled with steady or rising air freight traffic in the region's bellwether economies, appear to be driven largely by rising trade in industrial raw materials, capital equipment, and machinery -- potentially foreshadowing an extended period of development for Asian infrastructure, manufacturing, and domestic consumption.

"Asia's economies are clambering towards new levels of growth not seen in recent times," said Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. "The DHL Global Trade Barometer's latest findings  highlight that Asia's trade fundamentals -- and indeed those of its biggest trade partners -- remain robust enough to warrant optimism in the near-term, particularly those industries directly involved with manufacturing and production for the region's burgeoning consumer base."

Japan's trade growth is expected to increase at a moderate rate, signaling ongoing positivity for businesses in the country. The country's highest-growth sectors include land vehicles and parts as well as machinery, set to drive up volumes in Japanese ocean and air exports in the coming quarter. "Japan's economic maturity, coupled with world-class strengths in areas like automotive manufacturing, puts it in a position of strength to meet the evolving needs of increasingly affluent Asian consumers -- including sub-regions with some of the fastest-growing automotive markets in the world[1]," said Charles Kaufmann, President/Representative Director -- Japan K.K, CEO, North Asia, Head of Value Added Services -- Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding. "At the same time, Japan's appetite for overseas goods -- including both industrial raw materials and consumer fashion as its biggest import drivers -- makes maintaining strong two-way trade with its Asian neighbours an increasingly important economic and strategic priority."

"Overall, the DHL Global Trade Barometer's latest results reveal that economic growth and connectivity have maintained a strong upward trajectory despite any global uncertainty around free trade," added Leung. "It also emphasizes just how interconnected Asia's economies are to the rest of the world. For the region's growth to continue, its logistics and freight infrastructure must not only provide reliability under all conditions, but also cater to an increasingly diverse range of industries with fluctuating levels of growth."

Developed jointly by DHL and Accenture, the DHL Global Trade Barometer provides a quarterly outlook on future trade, taking into consideration the import and export data of seven large economies: China, South Korea, Germany, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these countries account for 75 percent of world trade, making their aggregated data an effective bellwether for near-term predictions on global trade. The DHL Global Trade Barometer, which assesses commodities that serve as the basis for further industrial production, predicts that global trade will continue to grow in the next three months, despite slight losses in momentum.

Full Report: http://release.media-outreach.com/i/12056

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