#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below.

Irish Economy: Exports down in Q3 - The Irish Exporters Association's latest quarterly review has indicated that merchandise exports fell in quarter 3 by 8.6% year-on-year, with total exports down 1.3% y-o-y. Underlying the overall decline, manufacturing exports were particularly weak, falling 7.8% y-o-y, while the services sector and agri-food proved the main export drivers, growing at 6.5% and 7.1% respectively.

Roll-On Roll-Off: Diversifying Cargoes - A shift has been noticed in RoRo markets as deep-sea car carriers look to attract not only vehicles but additional types of traffic such as construction equipment and project cargo. Japanese operator K Line recently ordered four new car carriers to replace existing tonnage, each with 7,500-unit capacity and "the widest beam ever built" enabling them to better accommodate a variety of RoRo cargoes.

Container: General Rate Increase - A general rate increase (GRI) for spot container rates came into force on 1 November causing the overall Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (SCFI) to jump 26.5%, with far larger increases on specific routes. The success of this GRI is largely due to the discipline of the carriers, which did not occur last time in September according to HSH Nordbank.

For more on each of the above and other stories click the downloadable PDF IMDO Weekly Markets Review (Week 44). In addition to Afloat.ie dedicated Ports & Shipping News section.