A series of unusual events triggered by the outbreak led to a serious container shortage crisis. This can be classified as global, because the shortage of containers can have a chain reaction to all supply chains, fundamentally disrupt international trade. Wire terminal block, CPU connector and pedal reflectors should be noted.
Trade recovery, the shortage of containers, It has a great impact on freight rates. According to market people, In February, the shipping cost per container has increased from $1500 to $6000-9000. The shortage of containers also pushed up the price of new containers.
Currently, China’s dominant container manufacturer has priced new containers at $2,500, higher than $1600 last year.
In the previous six months, Container rents have also increased by about 50 per cent.
There are four main reasons for this crisis:
First, due to the decrease in the number of containers available;
Secondly, due to the congestion of most ports due to labor shortage;
Thirdly, due to the decrease in the number of ships operating;
Finally, due to significant changes in consumer buying sentiment,
In the middle of last year, the real black swan appeared. A large number of container goods from Asia were shipped to North America, but because of the epidemic restrictions, almost no containers were shipped to Asia. Because the shipping company is not interested in this, so the return of empty boxes is not too important. At this point, this supply asymmetry has evolved into a terrible huge imbalance. In addition, there is a disastrous labor shortage in American ports. Not just docks and warehouses. Due to border restrictions, Customs work was also partially suspended. Although China resumed exports earlier than the rest of the world, other countries, however, continue to face embargo restrictions and layoffs. Currently container has 40% imbalance gap in North America. This means that every 10 containers arrive, only four returns, while 6 stayed at the arrival port. China-US trade averages TEU,900,000 per month the container does have huge absolute imbalance. In the first quarter of this year, Sales rose 23.3 percent from the same period last year. The container shipping crisis affects various business areas in different ways. For example, the transport of high-value goods such as mechanical engineering products, electronic products and computer equipment is less affected. But for other categories, Especially in Asian textiles, the increase in transport costs has had more serious consequences. According to the exporter, the sharp rise in freight has led to the closure of many low-margin textile mills. Delays and container shortages are pushing up freight rates. In Asia, Delivery delays of up to weeks, forcing many companies to negotiate higher prices with buyers. Container shipping consultancy at the port of Felixstowe, UK, From Shanghai to Los Angeles, The freight is $0.66 per 40ft container, and the shipping cost from shanghai to los angeles is less than $0.10. The ticket price from Shanghai to Melbourne is $0.88, the air ticket price from shanghai to santos is $0.75. There is a consensus that, Empty containers should be shipped back to Asia, so that carriers can continue their business. Trade routes from Asia to the United States have become so profitable that carriers will even ship containers back to Asia without waiting for the goods to arrive, especially when the ports are not available. With reports of increasing congestion and container shortages in major ports in China, the country has begun to call for cooperation to obtain more containers and lower freight charges. Recently, port and shipping associations were called upon to work with international carriers to address container shortages. The China Ports Association (CPHA) and the China Shipowners’ Association (CSA) need to reduce the impact of the shortage of containers critical to foreign trade, said a conference hosted by the Ministry of Transport. The commercial recovery that began last year led to a shortage of containers. But the slow process of shipping containers back from North America to Asia is also contributing to its current imbalances. Last year, we announced measures to increase container supply. According to the media, the China Container Industry Association (CCIA) urged shipping container manufacturers to significantly increase production. Since September, the monthly production of 300000 standard boxes has been reached to alleviate the shortage. Container manufacturers have extended their normal working hours to 11 hours a day.