Bottlenecks in the global shipping industry are difficult to eliminate(4)

Bottlenecks in the global shipping industry are difficult to eliminate(4)

The substantial increase in demand for consumer goods in Europe is also exacerbating shipping bottlenecks. Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, had to fight congestion this summer. In the UK, a shortage of truck drivers has caused bottlenecks in ports and inland railway hubs, forcing some warehouses to refuse to deliver new containers until the backlog is reduced.

In addition, the outbreak of the epidemic among workers loading and unloading containers has caused some ports to be temporarily closed or reduced.

The freight rate index remains high

The incident of shipping blockage and detention reflects the situation that due to the rebound in demand, epidemic control measures, the decline in port functions, and the decrease in efficiency, coupled with the increase in ship detentions caused by typhoons, the supply and demand of ships tends to be tight.

Affected by this, the rates of almost all major trade routes have skyrocketed. According to data from Xeneta, which tracks freight rates, the cost of shipping a typical 40-foot container from the Far East to Northern Europe has soared from less than US$2,000 to US$13,607 last week; the price of shipping from the Far East to Mediterranean ports has risen from US$1913 to US$12,715. US dollars; the average cost of container transportation from China to the west coast of the United States increased from 3,350 US dollars last year to 7,574 US dollars; shipping from the Far East to the east coast of South America increased from 1,794 US dollars last year to 11,594 US dollars.