The Kiel Institute was listed as one of the 50 most influential think tanks in the world in 2017, especially in the area of economic policy and it was also ranked among the top 15 in the world. German business newspaper Handelsblatt called the institute "Germany's most influential economic think tank", while Die Welt said "the best economists in the world are in Kiel".
Data from the Kiel Institute for The World Economy showed that global trade fell by 2.8% in the February-March period, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine led to a sharp drop in container shipments from the two countries.
KieltradeIndicator tracks shipping data for 500 ports in real time and adjusts the total value of imports and exports seasonally, providing a measure of trade activity. Most affected was global trade with Russia, where imports fell 9.7% year-on-year in March, while exports fell 5%, the institute's data showed.
"Distortions from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and Western sanctions, as well as a high level of uncertainty for companies with ties to Russia, are clearly weighing on trade in March," said Vincent Stamer, director of Kiel's trade index.
Container traffic at three of Russia's busiest container ports has halved in the past month due to sanctions imposed on Russia and the withdrawal of many Western brands, the agency said. And Ukraine's main Black Sea port of Odessa has been "almost cut off from international maritime trade".
In addition, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict also had a "chilling effect" on EU trade, with EU exports down 5.6% and imports down 3.4% in March. The impact on the U.S. was more modest, with exports down 3.4% and imports down 0.6%.
Russia and Ukraine are the world's two largest suppliers of commodities. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted supplies of key resources and commodities such as corn, wheat, potash, neon, nickel and palladium from Russia and Ukraine, pushing up energy and food prices and depressing several cars and truck manufacturers' production.
Trade pressures are likely to increase as the United States and the European Union prepare to impose a new round of sanctions on Russia.
