South Korea has formally restored Japan to its list of countries it gives preferential treatment in trade, three years after the neighbours downgraded each other’s trade status amid a diplomatic… read more →

As the commodity trading industry looks back on Q1 of 2023, it is evident that the first three months of the year have been marked by a number of significant events. 

Today, the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat and the World Bank Group announced their pilot initiative, Action on Climate and Trade (ACT), to help developing… read more →

British trade minister Nigel Huddleston signed a trade deal with the U.S. state of Oklahoma while in Washington. The British embassy noted that while on the trip, Huddleston hailed another… read more →

Today, Standard Chartered and the IFC announced the signing of a $700 million investment in the IFC’s Global Trade Liquidity Programme (GTLP) in support of global trade finance.   Since the… read more →

Saying the world’s oceans are vast is an understatement. If one were to sail from Cape Town to Tristan da Cunha, the world’s most remote inhabited island, located over 2,000 kilometres to the nearest land, the voyage would take longer than it took Apollo 11 to reach the moon.

ESG is certainly not a new development, but its growth and importance in financial services have never been higher. Whilst there has been a big focus on the “E” in ESG, we’re also seeing a lot of progress in tackling other aspects, such as social action to address societal challenges. One of the biggest social challenges in global trade is the huge, and growing, finance gap.

On Wednesday, the United States announced that it ratified a deal to cut subsidies contributing to overfishing, becoming the first large fishing nation to do so. United States Trade Representative… read more →

The Court of Appeal in England has decided in MUR Shipping BV v. RTI Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1406 (27 October 2022) that sometimes a party must accept payment in Euros, even though the contract expressly stipulated payment to be made in US Dollars. Although the case is not about independent undertakings, DCW readers might ask if the decision could have implications for letters of credit and demand guarantees.

A modernisation package agreed in principle by participants will specifically allow countries to offer greater support for green projects while also expanding the use of export credits in the context… read more →