Welcome to the first print issue of GTR for 2026, and to a refreshed look and feel for the magazine.
The themes running through this issue all point to one reality: trade finance is being reshaped by volatility, strategic competition and corporates’ growing need for smarter balance sheet management.
Over the last few months, we’ve learned that even against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, tariffs, policy uncertainty and fragile supply chains, trade is not slowing in the way many expected. In fact, in many corridors it is becoming more diversified and more strategically important. That resilience, coupled with a steady push into new trading relationships, is sustaining demand for risk mitigation and smarter financing structures.
In this context, our cover story examines inventory finance, a structure attracting renewed attention as corporates reassess stock strategies. Sentiment about the different models, however, remains mixed, and many market participants are still weighing the operational and risk considerations.
That same theme of operating in a more fragmented environment runs through our commodity finance feature. Large traders have taken on new strategic importance in a volatile world, but are banks becoming more selective about how and where they deploy capital?
Shipping and logistics – the physical backbone of trade – also come into sharper focus this issue. In our profile of a senior Maersk leader, we explore how supply chain disruption, data ownership and customs complexity are forcing a rethink of how goods move globally. Meanwhile, our ‘Trade Routes’ feature shows how the Gulf-Asia corridor is evolving from a strategic narrative into an operational reality.
Alongside this, our story ‘The Collector’ delves into a shipping veteran’s passion for the bill of lading and how the document has underpinned trade for centuries.
In our sustainability report, we examine how the race for critical minerals continues to climb the agenda, as governments and corporates grapple with how to secure the materials needed for the digital and energy transitions. Our mapping highlights just how closely resource strategy, geopolitics and finance are now intertwined.
Elsewhere in the issue, our investor roundtable examines how trade as an asset class is holding up under renewed scrutiny, while our news pages capture the online stories that have resonated most strongly with the market in recent months.
As GTR continues its evolution as a digital-first publication, much of our daily engagement with readers now takes place through our online news coverage and weekly newsletter, where the bulk of our audience connects with us in real time. The print edition remains an important opportunity to step back and take stock of the themes shaping the market. I hope you enjoy the read.
