A surge in cargo imports from Asia has caused bottlenecks in America’s West Coast ports and the number of cargo ships trapped here is exacerbating the shortage of containers around the world. , pushing freight rates from Asia and Europe to the US skyrocketing.
The giant container ship Ever Given was rescued earlier this week, allowing the Suez Canal in Egypt to resume trade, but in the US Southern California region, container vessel congestion persists due to the port here is overloaded.
| Since the beginning of this year, many container ships have been anchored off the Southern California coast in the US West Coast due to overloaded capacity at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports (pictured). Photo: Reuters |
On April 1, at San Pedro Bay, off the port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach in Southern California, 32 container ships were anchored waiting to dock and load, higher than the average of 30.5 container ships. anchored every day since the beginning of this year. These ships come from Asia and carry washing machines, medical equipment, electronics … Some ships have been anchored for more than 10 days.
In February 2021, the number of containers handled at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in California, which are considered an open door to receive cargo from Asia, increased by 45% year-on-year, extending momentum. increase through the 8th month in a row. In March, the number of containers handled at the port of Los Angeles increased more than 80% year-on-year.
When the handling capacity of Los Angeles and Long Beach ports is overloaded, dozens of container ships are forced to wait offshore. These two ports handle nearly 40% of the total cargo transported by sea to the United States but are unable to keep up with the surge in imports, especially when US consumers are forecast to spend their shopping. headlines after receiving a grant from a new $ 1,900 billion economic bailout that President Biden signed through earlier this month.
Container ships congestion appeared at the United States’ gateway to importing goods by sea, which began to appear late last year as manufacturers and retailers in the world’s largest economy raced for replenishment. the warehouses are exhausted.
US imports of goods increased rapidly thanks to loosening blockade orders and recovery from the summer of 2020. In January, the US imported goods with a record value of nearly $ 220 billion, 9 higher than 9. % compared with the same period last year.
Gene Seroka, Port Manager of Los Angelesm said the US shopping boom has caused the volume of goods imported through the port to increase rapidly at unprecedented levels.
In January, more than 25% of container ships had to wait more than 5 days to be loaded and unloaded at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“Under normal conditions, container ships rarely have to be anchored offshore,” said Kip Louttit, CEO of Marine Exchange of Southern California, an organization that tracks cargo ships to and from Southern California.
The situation is further compounded when the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among port workers reduces cargo handling capacity. About 800 workers in the ports of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach, or more than 5% of all workers, were infected with the virus in February and March.
Congestion of container ships in the US West Coast has exacerbated a container scarcity, leading to a skyrocket in shipping rates from Asia to the US.
For example, at the end of March, the cost of shipping a 40-foot container from China to the West Bank rose to $ 5,000, according to Hong Kong-based market research firm Freightos. This rate is 250% higher than the same period last year. The cost of shipping goods by sea from Europe to the West Coast has also doubled in the past year.
The volume of container ships accumulating off the coast of California is affecting the income of US businesses. Oregon sportswear and footwear company Nike has delayed delivery from Asia for three weeks or more. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, which ended in February 2021, Nike’s global sales were up 3 percent from the year before, but its North American sales fell 10 percent from the disruption. supply.
To cope with supply chain challenges, some US businesses turn to air freight, which costs 8-10 times higher than sea freight, according to Jon Gold, Vice President in charge. customs and supply chain policy at the National Retail Association of America, headquartered in Washington. He forecasts that the additional costs will be passed on to product prices and the most affected party will be the consumer.
According to Nikkei Asian Review, Wall Street Journal
