Middle East trade under threat: Shipping, freight and sanctions

Alexis joined Kpler’s Insight Team in March 2023 as Lead Major Dry Bulks Analyst. Based in London, he brings over a decade of experience in dry bulk commodities and freight research. He leads the development of Kpler’s dry bulks research offering, covering coal, fertiliser, grain, iron ore, minor bulks, and dry freight. His work spans market analysis, supply-demand and pricing outlooks, client presentations, industry speaking engagements, and supporting the growth of Kpler’s dry bulks data products. Previously, he was a Director at Simpson Spence Young (SSY) in the Consultancy & Research team.

Matthew Wright is the Lead Freight Analyst at Kpler. In his role, he leads on providing clients with expertise, analysis and research on the freight markets. Prior to Kpler, Matthew was a Senior Tanker Analyst at SSY ship brokers, where he was responsible for analysing oil tanker markets, leading the development of new models and handling consulting inquiries. Matthew has extensive oil market experience from seven years in consulting at Argus Media where he worked on a range of single client projects before moving on to manage the delivery the subscription reports focusing on freight, crude and refined products.

Ana Subasic is a trade risk analyst at Kpler, where she combines energy market fundamentals, geopolitical analysis, and legal investigation to assess emerging trade risks, structures and sanctions circumvention. After joining Kpler in 2022 as an LNG market analyst, she transitioned into Risk and Compliance in 2025 to strengthen the team’s forward-looking analytical capabilities on a the cross-commodity scale. Her work focuses on shadow and dark trade investigations, including breaking intelligence and insights into high-risk commodity flows. Ana serves as a key voice within Risk and Compliance, translating regulatory developments, sanctions dynamics, and geopolitical shifts into structured assessments and actionable intelligence for clients.

With over a decade of experience spanning multiple facets of the shipping and insurance industries, Ellis Morley brings a wealth of expertise to his role at Howden. His career began in Aframax tanker broking, transitioning through chartering operations and shipping recruitment, before culminating in the insurance sector at Howden, Ellis not only focuses on servicing commodity traders but also leads and expands the firm’s cargo war placements. He spearheads global commodity programmes, devising effective and efficient insurance solutions that cater to the unique needs of traders worldwide, ensuring robust protection against the dynamic risks of international trade.