Global Shipping Snarls Look to Linger Well Into Next Year
So if you were thinking you wanted that new paddleboard or fancy new mountain or road bike think again or think way farther in advance. It is going to be much of the same for 2022.
(Quoted directly from Bloomberg)
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Manufacturers and shipping executives in Asia, the world’s factory floor, have a simple message on the global supply crunch: It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
That was the message to Bloomberg correspondents in interviews with those on the front line of production and transportation. What was hoped to be a short-term crunch now looks lasting well into 2022.
“We do not expect freight rates to stabilize in the near term,” according to Karsten Michaelis, head of ocean freight at DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. “The combination of a year of disruption, lack of containers, port congestions and a shortage of vessels in the right positions is creating a situation where cargo demand far exceeds available capacity.”
While his firm is offering customers alternative routes and modes of transport to ensure deliveries are made, he warns that “we have to be prepared that costs will stay at elevated levels and are not expected to go back to pre-Covid levels.”
Christmas Crunch
The seasonal surge in demand for consumer goods ahead of the annual holiday shopping season is only adding to the crunch as factories rush to get their goods to U.S. and European markets on time.
“Capacity planning for the Christmas season has started much earlier this year because capacity is so tight in ocean freight,” Michaelis said. “We are seeing some customers even planning to fly in typical seasonal goods just to make sure they are on stock/in store on time.”