Crazy price increase! The three major express delivery companies are out of stock, the price of air delivery may exceed 70, the price of air and sea freight continues to rise, and it is difficult to get a container!

At the beginning of 2021, the Suez Canal was blocked, goods caught fire at the airport, and fell into the sea while being transported. Freight rates soared, airlines were out of stock, containers were in short supply, and space was hard to come by. Sellers lamented: "This year is so difficult!"

Last week, for the dedicated channel for direct flights from the mainland to the United States, some freight forwarders offered a price of 61 yuan to the East Coast of the United States, while the prices to the Central and West Coast of the United States were also 60 and 59 yuan respectively. The prices are fluctuating.

This week, the red order warehouses are seriously crowded and the timeliness is unstable. Some freight forwarders simply do not accept red order goods. The prices of those that can be shipped with red orders have also increased significantly.

The current market price for 50KG to the United States is about 66-67 RMB/KG.

A freight forwarder said that now the price of DHL is 61, the price of red order is 65, and the price of air delivery has started to rise sharply and may exceed 7x . If you are in a hurry, it is recommended to use express delivery.

Looking at the rising prices of various logistics companies, sellers are a little confused. It is not the peak season now, why did the prices suddenly rise so much...

DHL price increase notice

Recently, some foreign trade professionals have received a price increase notice from DHL, and the price increase trend is expected to continue.

One of them was amazed: "April is traditionally a low season for foreign trade, but now the three major express delivery companies are all out of stock."

One seller sought to use DHL to ship to New York, hoping for an affordable price of less than 53 yuan and a delivery time of 4-5 days, but was directly advised by the logistics personnel to "give up the fantasy": "Our group charges our peers an additional 25 yuan for warehousing."

Due to the warehouse explosion, DHL not only saw an increase in prices but also a significant reduction in delivery time.

Some sellers sent goods via DHL, but the goods were picked up from Hong Kong after 9 days. Some sellers even had no news of their goods for nearly two weeks. This situation is very common at this stage.

In addition, a freight forwarder issued a notice: From April 20th to May 20th, apples will be shipped in large quantities in Shanghai, Kunshan, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, and the market air freight prices will face a substantial increase.

Sellers are advised to book warehouses as early as possible, as the situation will be more serious before May 1st.

As air express prices rise and space becomes tight, sellers can't help but miss the price of air express that dropped to less than 30 yuan after the New Year.

Recently, the price of air freight will even be higher than that of express delivery. Hong Kong air freight is expected to exceed HKD 100/KG next week. What is the reason for the skyrocketing air freight prices?

Many airlines undertake "new crown test kits and vaccines" to further reduce capacity

According to the latest statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the end of the first quarter of this year, China had exported about 115 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 43 countries. Furthermore, China has agreed to donate vaccines to 80 countries and some international organizations.

It can be seen that for a long time in the future, part of the air transport capacity will still be used to serve the export of vaccines.

Product season change, concentrated shipments before the holidays, and congestion in sea transportation have led to an influx of goods into air and express delivery

Many sellers are preparing for summer hot-selling products. According to an insider, Amazon will hold a Prime Day promotion in June this year.

The May Day holiday is coming up. Regardless of whether the Member Day promotion is held in advance or the same as in previous years, it is better to ship early rather than late.

In addition, shipping in Europe and the United States is now generally facing multiple problems such as difficulty in booking space, difficulty in obtaining containers, serious port congestion, and unstable shipping schedules, resulting in a large amount of goods pouring into air transportation and express delivery, causing freight rates to rise.

In addition, according to logistics experts, the warehouse overflow situation at air cargo stations in the West and East U.S. is more serious, while that at stations in the U.S. and China is average . The specific reason is still the impact of the epidemic.

Congestion at European and American shipping ports has become the norm, with containers piling up at European and American ports and unable to return to China in a timely manner. In addition, there are many sellers shipping goods recently, making it difficult for domestic cargo owners to book warehouses.

Some sellers reported that Shanghai warehouses were full and even ordinary ships could not get warehouses. Moreover, ships are unstable now. In March, which is the traditional off-season, it is even crazier than the peak season before the New Year.

Another seller lamented: It is really difficult to get a cabinet to North America recently! Even if you increase the price, you can’t buy it. There are 50 cabinets piled up in the warehouse waiting to be shipped.

Not only is it difficult to get space, but shipowners also remind customers that the shortage of containers is also very serious. Customers who purchase full containers should pick up the containers in advance as soon as possible after receiving the packing list.

Due to tight warehouse space and serious shortage of containers, the most direct blow that sea transportation brings to sellers is that prices have skyrocketed, making it exhausting to ship goods.

A seller said that the insurance price for orders on the US-Canada line increased from US$6,800 to US$10,000.

The uncertainty of global economic recovery has caused the shipping market to remain in a period of stagnation.

As a precautionary measure, before the future becomes clear, major shipping companies have chosen to stick together and not increase their capacity accordingly.

Instead, they make profits by significantly raising prices. Chinese and foreign shipping companies have suspended routes, reduced the number of export container voyages, and dismantled a large number of idle container ships.

Given the pessimistic expectations about the direction of US policy, many American customers urged Chinese shippers to speed up production and expedite shipments.

This nervous behavior of overdrawing future shipments in advance has also made the container shortage situation of Chinese and American shipping companies more obvious.

Under the influence of the "gap" period of port container business and the concerns about future trade, the freight rates on the China-US route have repeatedly hit new highs.

The major ports of the United States and Canada are continuously congested, with dozens of ships queuing to unload their cargoes. The terminal capacity is insufficient, and unloading takes 8-12 days. It is even worse to load cargoes by train, which takes 3-5 weeks (there is a serious shortage of brackets).

It can be seen that the rising trend of international freight rates cannot be eliminated in the short term, and high freight rates may continue. Hereby remind foreign traders to pay attention to industry information in a timely manner, understand the dynamics, and avoid risks.