Global container crisis

Since the beginning of the pandemic generated by COVID-19, the global logistics sector, as expected, suffered a considerable impact, as a consequence of the mobility restrictions implemented by the vast majority of countries. One of the greatest impacts has been reflected in the cargo container crisis, generated by the change in purchasing patterns worldwide, where e-commerce took centre stage, increasing considerably with respect to 2019, as a result of social immobility and the compulsory closure of retail chains.

In addition, the incident that occurred in the Suez Canal in March when the vessel "Ever Given" obstructed the waterway for almost a week, accentuated the problem of container shortages, as the Suez Canal is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world for the transport of goods.

In the words of Lina Maggi, International Logistics Manager of Clover Logistics, some countries have been recovering normality, reactivating the economy, which has generated an overproduction of companies and the demand for containers has progressively increased, negatively impacting the national and international logistics business.

"China is the world's largest producer, which means that traffic to Latin America is long and the frequency of shipments affects the time containers are held up because of the voyage the ships have to make," Lina Maggi.

 According to data provided by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), during the pandemic the cost of freight from China (the largest producer of consumer goods) to South America has risen by as much as 443%. The main reason for the high increase in freight rates is that South American countries generally import more goods than they export, and because there is no material to export, containers return empty to China, which is more costly for ocean carriers.

"When empty containers are in short supply, shipping lines have opted to charge a priority feed, which is an additional cost to ocean freight in order to recover the empty containers," Maggi said.

As the world's vaccination plans move forward, commercial productivity will resume and stabilise both container flows and freight costs. In situations like this, the extra mile that an experienced and capable logistics provider can give you is essential. Air and ocean freight operations have become more complex, and while this is likely to be a temporary situation, it will remain so for some time to come.