DHL 2008 Annual Report Download - page 34

Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2008
a peak of   . In the second half of , the recessive trends caused energy demand
to fall sharply. In December, the oil price dropped to around    per barrel, its lowest
level since .
Euro hits historic high
In the  rst six months of , the  dollar was under immense downward
pressure.  e weak  economy and the crisis on the  nancial markets prompted the
Federal Reserve to reduce its key interest rate seven times in  from .  to a range
of between   and . . Since the European Central Bank  initially held its rate
steady at  , even raising it to .  in July, the euro’s interest rate advantage over the
 dollar increased, bringing it to an all-time high of   ..  is trend shi ed in the
second half of the year. Economic weaknesses and falling price pressure provoked the
 to lower its key interest rate as far as . .  is meant the euro once again depre-
ciated in value against the dollar, closing the year at   .. Measured against the
pound sterling, the euro posted a .  gain.
Corporate bonds suffer under fi nancial market crisis
In the euro zone, capital market returns rose in the  rst half of the year but fell
sharply therea er. At the end of the year, ten-year German treasury bonds were yielding
just under  , some . percentage points less than at the end of . In the same
period, the return on ten-year  treasury bonds fell by . percentage points to only
. . Although the interest rates have fallen steeply, the climate for corporate bonds
has deteriorated.  e  nancial market crisis has unsettled investors to such an extent
that risk premiums have leapt right up, even for high-quality corporate bonds.
Slowdown in international trade growth
International trade depends to a large extent on how dynamic global economic
development is. Hence, although it did grow again in , this growth was clearly
below the prior-year levels on almost all major trade lanes. North American imports
even declined.
Furthermore, the growth structure shi ed. A look at the trade  ows between
Asia Paci c and the United States or Europe shows that imports on these lanes are
growing faster than exports. At the same time, trade  ows within Asia – the second
largest domestic market a er Europe – are growing much faster than trade  ows within
Europe.
Export Asia Pacifi c Europe Latin America North America
Asia Pacifi c 9 7 9 – 2
Europe 12 2 7 – 3
Latin America 7 4 4 – 3
North America 556– 2
Source: Global Trade Navigator; as at December 2008.
%Import
Compound annual growth rate 2007 – 2008
30