Every trade-reliant country should gear up for disruptions in trade flows

THE Suez Canal disruption should serve as a timely reminder that even in these days of ever more digitalisation and virtual goods and services, trade in physical goods remains at the foundation of the global economy.

The shipping industry is almost invisible most of the time, even in tradereliant Singapore. Yet, sea transport is still the cheapest way to get goods from manufacturer to consumer. About 10 billion tonnes of goods are transported by ship each year.

It is something of a truism to say that shipping's capacity to transfer goods and materials from production point to where they will be transformed or consumed underpins modern life. Inter alia, the shipping industry transports nearly two billion tonnes of crude oil, one billion tonnes of iron ore and 320 million tonnes of grain. There is no alternative to seaborne trade for these goods; it would not be possible by road, rail or air, contrary to claims by the Belt and Road Initiative brigade. With some rare exceptions, other key products such as chemicals, refined fuels and manufactured goods also move by sea.