As the United Nation’s first Global Supply Chain Forum gets underway, The Weekly Tradecast gets an update on shipping disruptions that are adding to the global challenges with UN Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Jan Hoffmann. 
Ships carry about 80% of goods globally – from production to consumption. With tensions high in the Middle East, attacks by Houthi rebels on vessels in the Red Sea have diverted large amounts of traffic from one of the world’s most important shipping shortcuts. 
Another shortcut – the Panama Canal – is suffering its own disruptions as low water levels reduce the number and size of ships that can pass through. 
Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development, and Jan Hoffmann, head of the organization’s trade logistics branch, have just been on the ground in Panama. 
Tune in to Jan Hoffmann to get an overview on the disruptions and how countries, businesses and consumers are coping.