Whether you believe it’s simply ‘green wash’ or not, industry sources are reporting that the increase in ‘extra-slow-steaming’ (ESS) is having a profound effect on the international freighting sector. The knock-on effect for tyre importers and exporters is that ESS adds a few days to transit times.

Officially, ESS is the shipping industry's response to cutting global carbon emissions and is supposed to cut vessel emissions by some 30 per cent. It’s now the norm on the majority of trade routes although the cynic would say that it’s simply a significant cost cutting exercise, keeps ships in employment and, in fact, was widely used just to redress the supply-demand imbalance that built up in 2009. It’s estimated that in May alone, speed cuts to between 17-19 knots from the usual 23-25 kept almost 100 ships in employment.