The roots of the shipping crunch affecting all markets can be traced back to a chronic over-reliance on China as a manufacturing base

The rapid increase in natural gas prices dominated the headlines last week, but rising oil prices have the potential to be a much bigger worry

Long-distance shipping used to be more than 80% predictable, now there is only a one-third chance of your ship arriving on time

Exports from Ireland's computer software companies in the first half of 2021 reached record sales growth of 27% — to €78bn

All EU states registered large increases in exports outside Europe with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus

With upwards of 80% of all goods trade transported by sea, freight-cost surges are threatening to boost the price of everything imported into Ireland

Expect some doorstep surprises as customers will have to pay VAT and perhaps extra duties/customs charges to the delivery company for receipt of their cross-border purchases

It now appears that there are two key dates in October and January

The impressive growth in trade was mainly driven by a surge in exports from the North to the Republic, increasing by 48% in the first three months

The Covid-19 crisis has led to a revolution in the way people work, socialise and buy goods and services through digital platforms -- much to the benefit of the US giants.