For those in the business of shipping and grain, 2020 was a rollercoaster ride.

Widespread global shipping disruptions may jeopardise South Africa’s retail high season that includes November’s Black Friday and the December seasonal sales — unless importers move fast.

Is the US-China trade war dead? It certainly is for US agricultural exporters, although renewed demand is bringing with it the specter of soaring bulk shipping costs. Indeed, ship owners are enjoying something of a commodities supercycle that is driving up both the prices of raw materials and ship owner profits.

Shipping, which transports 90% of the world’s trade, contributes nearly 3% of global emissions – a little more than the carbon footprint of Germany.

The sea carries more than 80 percent of the world’s traded goods, most of which sail inside 40-foot-long steel containers stacked by the thousands atop some of the largest vessels ever built.