Commodities
6 October 2026
Black Sea Grain Flows: Romania's Record Wheat Year, a Rapeseed Rebound, and Bulgaria Losing Ground
Romania's wheat exports rose 26% to 9.0 million tonnes on Saudi, Jordanian and Algerian demand, its rapeseed exports rebounded to a record 2.5 million tonnes, corn kept shrinking, and Bulgaria's wheat exports fell 17%. Built on Eurostat trade data for the 2025/26 marketing year.
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Maritime & Shipping
6 October 2026
Chokepoint Watch: Hormuz Has Almost Vanished From the Data, and the Red Sea Has Not Come Back
Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is down 96% on last year, the Suez Canal is still 45% below its 2023 level, and a sharp fall at the Bosporus awaits confirmation. The first monthly read of the world's maritime chokepoints, built on IMF PortWatch data.
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Insurance & Risk
13 September 2026
When Geopolitics Becomes an Insurance Risk
From Middle East conflict losses to the Red Sea shipping disruption, insurers are re-pricing political violence and rethinking protection gaps. What this year's industry discussion reveals about underwriting an interconnected world.
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Insurance & Risk
12 September 2026
Soft Pricing Is Masking Rising Risk in Global Trade
Trade credit insurance is getting cheaper even as insured exposure and global insolvencies rise. What that divergence, raised at this year's Monte Carlo meetings, is really telling us about risk in global trade.
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Trade Finance
1 September 2026
Trade Finance in 2026: The Changing Role of Banks and the Rise of Non-Bank Capital
As banks become more selective in parts of the credit market, institutional and non-bank lenders are taking a growing interest in trade finance. The opportunity is significant — but so are the demands around verification, structuring and risk management.
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Trade Finance
28 July 2026
The $2.5 Trillion Trade Finance Gap Isn't Just a Risk Problem — It's a Verification Problem
Default rates in trade finance are among the lowest of any asset class in banking. So why does a $2.5 trillion gap persist? Public data increasingly points to the cost of verification, not the accuracy of risk pricing.
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Freight & Shipping
2 July 2026
The Container Market Is Booming Because It's Broken
Freight rates are spiking in mid-2026 even as a record shipbuilding orderbook looms — a collision between Red Sea rerouting, Panama's reversal, and slowing trade growth, with direct consequences for commodity traders and trade finance.
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Commodities
2 June 2026
Private Capital and Commodities in 2026 — A Structural Shift
Family offices and private banks are approaching commodities differently. Data from J.P. Morgan, Altss and others points to where sophisticated capital is moving, and why.
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