Since the Ever Given megaship blocked the Suez Canal its triggered a new surge in container spot freight rates around the world.
Freight rates from China to South America have jumped 443% compared with 63% between Asia and major trading routes.
The underlying causes are complex and include changing trade patterns and imbalances, capacity management by carriers at the beginning of the crisis, and ongoing COVID-19 related at shipping ports. Another major factor is return cargo. If a country imports more than it exports, return cargo costs must be factored in even if the return cargo is empty containers.
If you are seeing a cost to your business on importing items its real – and many importers believe we’re yet to reach the peak in freight costs.
