The WEF was held in Dalian, China, last month. The overall conclusion was that the down turn in world trade and freight movements will eventually cause a major re-balancing of global trade flows. Major production and marketing companies are already tending to source their inputs from closer to home, rather than the Far East thus reducing their reliance on long-distance shipping and helping keep stocks to a minimum. There will be significant implications for shipping lines, freight forwarders, air freight and express parcel operators.