Nowadays, due to the pandemic, shipping schedules are disordered, containers are in short supply, and shipping prices have skyrocketed. Even terminals continue to be overloaded. Global shipping is still currently in crisis.
It is said that the congestion at the dual ports of San Pedro Bay in the United States seems to be getting worse. The Southern California Maritime Exchange (Marine Exchange) stated that there are more than 40 ships anchored at anchor points or wandering areas waiting for berths. Moreover, after the carrier transferred certain services to San Francisco Bay, congestion has spread to the Port of Oakland. Jon Monroe of Jon Monroe Consulting, a Washington state-based consulting firm, said: “We expect that shipping space bookings will be even stronger.” He added that the port may become more congested before goes smoothly. Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of the container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, said it has been "overwhelmed by booking mail and phone calls." He said: "It won't be until the second quarter to return to a near-normal level. And this is the first time we have earned back the cost of capital in 10 years."
According to NCFI data, the FBX freight index from Asia to the United States was stable this week with the West Coast and East Coast at $4,286 and $5716 per 40-foot container respectively. However, similar to the situation in Europe, shippers who want to ship goods to the United States usually have to pay higher fees in the form of equipment and space deposits, as well as large demurrage and detention fees. It is said that the terminal and the carrier have issued more than $3 million in demurrage and detention fees. A seller on Reddit doesn’t feel optimistic about the current shipping costs, “To be honest, I don’t think container shipping costs will be reduced. I mean, the market is willing to pay 5 times the price, why do they want to reduce related costs?"
Given the severe global shipping crisis that may continue into the second quarter or even longer, we recommend that wholesale distributors prepare goods in advance, or prepare the goods to the warehouse through our Crov platform in the United States.
