Exports in general, agricultural exports in particular, are facing the situation of sea freight rates rising rapidly. How to solve this problem?
Rates jumped from month to month
According to information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, many enterprises in many export industries have reflected on the rapid increase in shipping rates in the last few months of the year.
For example, in October, the price of seagoing ships to the UK was at 1,540 USD / container (container), in November, it jumped to 5,450 USD / cont and December 2020 continued to increase sharply to 7,200 USD / cont.
Also according to information from businesses, before October 2020, the freight for ships to Los Angeles (USA) is from 700-1,000 USD / cont, now at about 5,000 USD / cont.
According to Nguyen Nam Hai, Chairman of the Vietnam Pepper Association, the last months of 2020 and quarter 1 of 2021 are currently the season for pepper harvesting, processing and export.
However, from November 2020 up to now, the situation of high freight rates, at the same time businesses lacked empty containers for packing, some shipping lines charged additional fees during the peak season, causing a great impact. to the business and export activities of pepper enterprises.
Even when the goods have been built and lowered, but still can not board because there is no space or the ship is dropped at the transshipment port because the shipping company gives priority to customers in different markets with better prices.
Currently, the shipments of Vietnamese pepper companies in November and December have to pay freight costs twice higher than normal months, and also have to pay fees during the peak season for firms. ships (with carriers collecting 1,000 USD / cont). This causes great damage to businesses because when dealing with shipping lines, they do not notice that freight charges and these fees arise.
Mr. Hai said that, with 95% of pepper output for export, the lack of empty containers for packing as well as the increase in freight charges, along with the influence of Covid-19 made pepper businesses more difficult. , slowing down the economic recovery of businesses.
The too high rise in shipping rates is due to the shortage of ships and especially the lack of empty containers for packing.
The reason is that the requirement of social blockade and social isolation to prevent Covid-19 has caused the capacity to handle goods at ports in Europe and North America (the two leading import markets in the world). Heavy reduction, causing a large number of containers to be stagnant in these areas. Many shipping lines have had to cut routes, causing shortages of trips and cargo space.
Many agricultural products have encountered difficulties due to the skyrocketing sea freight rates. Photo: Le Hoang Vu
On the other hand, due to Covid-91, the production capacity of goods in Latin America, South Asia and Eastern Europe has decreased, so many countries in Europe and North America have increased their import of goods from East Asia. , including Vietnam. This has made an important contribution to the shortage of empty containers in East Asia in general and Vietnam in particular.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the shortage of ships and the lack of empty containers is likely to last until the end of the first quarter of 2021, even longer when Covid-19 is still complicated in the world.
This situation will greatly affect the export of goods in general, the export of agricultural products in particular not only in the end of 2020 but also in the early months of 2021, because sea transport accounts for 40-50% of the export volume. of the country.
Emergency solutions
Facing this situation, the Vietnam Maritime Administration (the Ministry of Transport) sent an express dispatch to shipping container shipping lines operating in Vietnam to take measures to increase empty containers (40 feet). ) in Vietnam to meet the goods export demand of shippers in the current period of high growth.
Shipping lines should propose solutions to flow empty domestic containers for import and export goods and other solutions to minimize the increase in container shipping prices during this period.
Shipping lines must make public and transparent about container freight rates and increase prices in accordance with Vietnamese law; at the same time, to take measures to inspect and supervise the executive departments, not to let individuals take advantage of the current market situation to take advantage of, make unreasonable prices, cause difficulties for shippers and cause troubles. shipping market.
The Vietnam Maritime Administration also called on shipping lines to accompany Vietnam’s import-export businesses in the current difficult period due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers has advised member companies to plan and respond to a scenario to minimize disruptions in the supply chain and minimize the drop in exports of individual businesses. industry as well as the fisheries sector.
However, the above measures are only temporary solutions. The shortage of ships and the shortage of empty containers that make sea freight rates soaring will likely recur when Vietnamese exporters are still heavily dependent on foreign shipping lines.
Therefore, it is necessary to have more radical solutions for the transport of goods for export. Considerable long-term solutions are to encourage businesses to invest in the production of containers in Vietnam and reduce costs to speed up the transport of exports abroad by rail.
According to Mr. Nguyen Chinh Nam, Head of Planning – Business Department (Vietnam Railway Corporation), the international intermodal train from Vietnam to many countries, now provides a full-service import-export package through official channels. Therefore, Vietnam Railway Corporation is now able to meet the transportation of goods by rail to China, Russia, EU countries and the Middle East.
Goods to Europe by rail only take about 20 days to arrive, ensuring safety and stability. With the current capacity, the railway industry can organize 5 pairs of ships to transport goods abroad with a tonnage of about 6,300 tons / day.
Particularly for goods to Europe, it is possible to organize 2 pairs of intermodal ships, each transport can carry 12 separate containers.
According to NNVN
