In this toy store, the shelves will be full for the end of year celebrations, assures its director Nicolas Castel. Suppliers warned retailers to order earlier this year. Global sea freight is brought to a standstill, resulting in skyrocketing costs and delivery delays. This store is mainly supplied in Europe. Logistical disruptions are less on the Europe Pacific route. But it was necessary to make an effort of treasury, from the month of March. “If the Christmas orders had been placed as usual at the level of July or August, I would have had the price impact of the increase in freight and raw materials. So there we made a big effort in terms of cash flow to be able to anticipate this increase and to be able to keep the prices correct without any increase over the end of the year celebrations. ”
Globally, 80% of the goods we consume are transported by sea, according to United Nations estimates. The pandemic has caused an imbalance in the supply chain, ranging from a shortage of raw materials or labor, the lack of space on cargo ships and port docks.
Global trade inherits this situation. And Polynesia, faced with large markets, is trying to ensure its imports as best they can. On the Asia-Pacific route, tariffs doubled to carry a 20-foot container. It’s x 5 in other parts of the world. In this supermarket chain, the group’s purchasing center is already recording a 10% surcharge on the Asia Pacific route and its orders for Halloween, Black Friday and Christmas are off to a good start, but their delivery date remains uncertain …
“For the end of the year, the order of magnitude we have today is that we have about two thirds for which we have confirmation that the goods will be able to leave on time, explains Christopher Wong Chou, COO. The problem with this Asia-Pacific line is that there’s what’s called a load break in New Zealand. That is to say that the boats will arrive in New Zealand, will change ships, and therefore suddenly there is a bottleneck ”
The difficulty for businesses remains to absorb this additional cost and avoid an increase in the selling prices of goods. A balance not so easy to maintain. According to the General Federation of Commerce (FGC), the sector is holding up as much as it can despite losses in turnover. Some stores were forced to close its last weeks. “As long as we can absorb, traders do their best to absorb price increases. And so as long as they can, they absorb it. But come at a time they need cash, they need finance, to pay their employees, to pay the licenses, to pay the rent and at some point they will no longer be able to do it ” considers FGC secretary Gérard Burlat.
Faced with supply difficulties, we must expect to have less diversity in the product ranges, still on the way.
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