“The goods can’t be shipped, so what about GDP!” The 300 containers that were supposed to be shipped in November last year have not been shipped yet. The goods owed to customers can only be stored in the warehouse after they are produced. There are no cabinets, no ships, no goods can go out, and the warehouse can no longer fit!
Wu Yongxiang, the president of Dongyang Group, the world’s largest auto repair parts factory, was eager to jump in the face of the recent increase in ocean freight rates. He especially confided to “Today” that he had suffered a storm of rallies.
“Is the shipping company’s method of increasing this reasonable? Some industry players say that it is a short-sighted approach to sell a container to earn 10 years after it arrives in the future. Do you think that the world is affected by the epidemic and economic growth, so the demand is so strong? If it is a special situation, the increase will be doubled. Everyone understands that it is totally unreasonable to rise to this point. The customer is your food and clothing parent. If the customer can’t stand it, everyone will be miserable. Now you can rise so ridiculously, wait until It collapsed, just how to get up and down.”
I have never seen it in 45 years, “The problem of lack of cabinets is still unsolved.”
A newly retired shipping company chairman said that if it is not for special cabinets or sea-land combined transportation, “I have never seen such prices in the past 45 years!”
Du Shuqin, general manager of Yangming Shipping, said frankly at the Fa-Speaking Conference a few days ago: “The problem of lack of cabinets is still unsolved!”
The lack of cabinets has troubled Ke Junbin, the leader of Taiwan’s motorcycle industry and the CEO of Guangyang. “Some European countries can’t find a container for 8,000 euros.” He said bluntly that the shipping company not only sets the price for the quantity, but also pulls down the ordered containers. “If the container is not pulled down, it is guaranteed to be able to board the ship. , It’s necessary to pay an extra 1,000 USD in deposit.”
Popular routes to the US and Europe have skyrocketed, and they have also hit the Southeast Asian routes that were not popular in the past. Zhou Xunyu, CEO of Hao Magee, who specializes in cross-border logistics between Taiwan and Southeast Asia, observed that since December last year, the freight rate of Southeast Asia routes has increased by more than four times, reaching more than 1,000 US dollars. A week before, the reserved counter was temporarily cancelled.
“No one expected that they would not be able to order the container,” Zhou Xunyu revealed. In the past, Hao Maggie ordered 2 containers a month, and now he can order it at any time. “Snatch it first, get it if you have it! Regardless of (order), say it every week. I want a 40-foot container.” Even if the order quantity is not filled with a container, it’s fine as long as you don’t lose money. “I’m not shipping now. I don’t know if there is a next shift.”
After the wave of lack of cabinets burned to the lunar new year, the European and American empty cabinets returned to Hong Kong in April and May, which is expected to alleviate
How long will this wave of shortage of cabinets last? When did it fall back to normal conditions in the past?
The former chairman of a shipping company with more than 40 years of experience observes that from a logistics perspective, “it is expected that a large number of empty containers in Europe and the United States will come back in April and May one to three months after the lunar new year. The shortage of containers is expected to be alleviated.” A retired executive in the merchandising industry believes that it is right or wrong to say that the lack of cabinets affected the first quarter. “It is not outrageous in the first half of the year. You will know it after time has passed.”
Specifically, the following three major signals, including retail inventory, global ship on-time rate, and the latest container ship supply and demand, can be used to determine the impact time of the lack of containers. If the inventory level of the retail industry remains low, it means that demand is still strong. If the ship schedule starts to rise from a low point, it means that the global port congestion situation has been alleviated.
According to the latest estimates from Alphaliner, a shipping market consulting agency, the annual growth rate of global container loading and unloading this year is higher than last year, reaching 3.5%, while the supply of space increased by 3.9%. Judging from the narrowing of the gap between supply and demand this year, it is also It shows that the oversupply phenomenon in the shipping market in the past 10 years has been reversed. “This year is a healthy year for supply and demand, but if the epidemic returns, the in and out of goods will be another matter.” This retired maritime industry chairman observes.
In 2021, which is full of changes, don’t be too happy if you have a big order. If you don’t have a cabinet, you may not be able to ship the goods. If you don’t have a big order, you don’t have to worry about it. Take the opportunity to cultivate flexibility and competitiveness. Companies can survive the knockouts.
(This article is from This week Authorized to reprint; source of the first image:Flickr/David Lee CC BY 2.0）
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