Inflation persists; container shipping costs skyrocketed overnight, with a container now costing up to $10k, compared to yesterday’s $1900.
via CNBC:
“With the Red Sea diversions by shipping companies including Maersk continuing amid the risk of attacks by the Houthis, global logistics managers are faced with a two-front storm of rising ocean and air freight prices and stranded cargo. Both are threats to the global supply chain after three tumultuous years of inflationary pressures and delays from Covid disruptions which recently seemed to finally have been vanquished.
The ceiling in ocean freight prices shot up in a matter of hours on Thursday as a result of more vessels diverting from the Red Sea. CNBC has learned that logistics managers were quoted this morning an ocean freight rate of $10,000 per 40-foot container from Shanghai to the U.K. Last week, rates were $1,900 for a 20-foot container, to $2,400 for a 40-foot container. Truck rates in the Middle East now being quoted are more than double.
Alan Baer, CEO of OL USA tells CNBC while pricing is undergoing rapid adjustments as ocean carriers work to recover the added costs of diverting their vessels, these massive jumps in rates need to be clarified as the shipping community of importers and exporters, along with government regulators seek to better understand the overall drivers of these large increases.
“During Covid, we had a slower build-up in freight prices due to the impact the pandemic had on the global supply chain,” Baer said. “What we are experiencing here is a light switch event where vessels are being redirected in real time. But, that said, in certain trade lanes you are seeing freight rates going up between 100 to 300 percent. This does not appear to be totally driven by changes in supply and demand.””
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