Some time ago, the serious grounding accident in the Suez Canal attracted global attention. The "Ever Given" single-handedly blocked the global international trade channel and finally resumed navigation on the evening of March 29.

It is learned that yesterday, the protagonist of the incident, EVER GIVEN, was declared a general average by the shipowner, which means that all cargo interests will be required to provide general average security before the cargo is delivered. According to foreign media reports, Egypt may demand compensation of US$1 billion, and the cargo owners will be trapped in a long waiting period.

At this point, the Suez Canal ship blockage has come to an end. Although the canal is open, the serious impact of the accident on global international trade and supply chains is still continuing. The impact of the accident on international foreign trade has also aroused discussions from many parties.

This accident is like a sharp knife, cutting holes in the map of international trade. What followed were terrible situations such as reduced global shipping capacity, rising freight rates, warehouse overflows, port congestion, and ship delays. Each of these incidents has made foreign trade people and cross-border people feel extremely heartbroken.

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Freight rates rise, costs increase

At the beginning of April, sellers have not yet recovered from the various new policies released by Amazon, and are about to face the nightmare of a comprehensive increase in shipping costs.

According to estimates by the British Lloyd's Register of Shipping, the loss to world trade caused by the "ship jam" in the Suez Canal reached US$400 million per hour, or about RMB 2.618 billion .

It is learned that due to the blockage of the Suez Canal, the global supply chain has shown signs of tension and scarcity. As an important trade route that controls the main artery of the international economy, the blockage has led to a decline in global shipping capacity. On the contrary, the costs of air and sea transportation have skyrocketed.

A freight forwarder has reported that due to insufficient international shipping capacity, the current air freight price to the United States has risen to the range of 64-75 RMB .

Just as sellers were lamenting the rapid increase in freight rates, a freight forwarder said that according to the current situation, there will be a wave of price increases in April, and it is just the beginning.

Although sellers are extremely reluctant to face this fact, according to the current situation, the overall increase in freight rates has become a foregone conclusion. On the one hand, freight costs continue to increase, and on the other hand, traffic on European and American sites is unstable. Under the double pressure, sellers are helpless and can only cry to each other: When will the freight rate increase stop?

  ▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

Although freight rates continue to rise, sellers have no choice but to ship goods. However, under the situation of tight global shipping capacity, many freight companies have fallen into the embarrassing situation of lack of containers and shipping containers. Now even booking space is difficult.

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Capacity is reduced and space is tight

It is learned that during the Ramadan and Easter in the United States, foreign trade orders and shipment demand have surged, and the peak arrival period has arrived, but the shipping schedule to the United States has become tight, and the space has been booked until the end of April.

According to feedback from freight forwarders, Matsun Express is extremely short of containers , and the scarcity has exceeded the peak period at the end of last year; at the same time, the scarcity of space on Zim Express has also been exacerbated as a result; in addition, the shipping schedules of general cargo have changed too much , the destination ports have been unable to berth for a long time, the waiting time in the port has been extended, and it has become more difficult for sellers to ship goods.

According to Shipping Network, the 15th week will see another peak in cargo arrivals, but the current tight space situation cannot be improved in the short term, so the logistics difficulties that sellers will face by then can be imagined.

On the one hand, there is the demand for shipments during the peak period of foreign trade, and on the other hand, cargo space is hard to come by. In this dilemma, sellers are powerless even if orders surge.

Moreover, the continuous decline in shipping capacity has made the arrival of cargo ships at the port seem to be a distant prospect. What's worse, the freight companies announced the suspension of booking, which undoubtedly dealt a fatal blow to foreign trade personnel.

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Ship delays, booking suspension

According to Shipping Network, the world's largest container shipping company Maersk announced on March 30 that in view of the chain reaction caused by the blockage of the Suez Canal, it is expected that its capacity may be significantly affected in the next few weeks. It has decided to suspend short-term online bookings through the Spot booking platform, and at the same time suspend short-term contract bookings in some regions this week and in the near future.

A Maersk spokesperson said: It is estimated that the delays may affect 20% to 30% of ocean shipping capacity in the coming weeks, depending on market dynamics.

To make matters worse, due to the shortage of containers, many freight companies have recently announced the suspension of bookings, and cargo transportation in multiple directions will also be affected.

Under such circumstances, the news of Amazon warehouse explosions is undoubtedly bad news. It is understood that Amazon warehouses in Europe and Canada have experienced explosions.

• The two warehouses YYZ7 and YYZ4 in Canada are seriously overcrowded, the waiting time for delivery is long, and there are serious rejections.

• Warehouses such as WRO5, WRO1, POZ1, and XWR1 in Europe are overwhelmed, port congestion is exacerbated, and timeliness and prices are extremely unstable.

• Due to the shortage of staff in Amazon warehouses, there may be a delay in putting goods on the shelves after they are delivered to the warehouse.

It's really like when it rains but it doesn't. The blockage of the Suez Canal has also made sellers worried. We just hope that the tension in the global supply chain can be eased and return to normal as soon as possible.

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