With soaring demand, surging container volumes, and increasing supply chain bottlenecks, inflation is at the highest level it’s been since 2009. As industry professionals work to address the shortages affecting critical delivery networks, many companies are stuck paying more than twice the amount they normally would for unreliable shipments that are taking two times as long to arrive.
And the latest shipping crisis resulting from a COVID-19 outbreak in the Guangdong province is bringing a whole new set of challenges to start off this year’s peak season. According to The Wall Street Journal, “around 50 container ships remain backed up around the Yantian port in Southern China and some 350,000 loaded containers are stacked up on docks as the major gateway for China goods heading to Western nations struggles to recover.”
Carriers are also having a hard time figuring out how to deal with the overwhelming congestion that’s delaying vessels by more than 20 days, causing a sharp rise in blanked sailings and a steep drop in on-time schedule reliability. After the most recent round of GRIs went into effect last Tuesday, the Freightos Baltic Index daily assessment for Asia-West Coast spot rates jumped 9% to a record-high $6,829 per FEU, according to Freightwaves.
At least shippers can look forward to the launch of three additional trans-Pacific services at U.S. West Coast ports by the end of July to help improve conditions and alleviate some of the congestion. To learn more about this week’s top international shipping news, check out the following links:
