The shipping crisis has dragged on. It's time for companies to localize production

When the cargo ship Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal in March 2021, delaying hundreds of ships and disrupting global supply chains, it was a huge strain on international shipping.

Lloyd's List estimates that the cost of one day of delay during the week a ship delayed shipping is $9.6 billion, given the cost of westbound traffic of $5.1 billion per day and eastbound traffic of about $4.5 billion. billion

But the 400-ship congestion that has slowed global shipping is just one possible threat to trade. The list of threats is much broader, from delays at ports with tighter covid-19 and customs checks, to freight container shortages and a doubling of boxed container prices in many markets.

At the same time, due to a sharp increase in retail sales, inventories, already low due to the pandemic, fell sharply. This has complicated attempts to return to pre-Covid profit levels. The situation has led some freight operators to declare "the worst operational crisis in years". Exporters and importers are concerned that rising costs will have to be passed on to consumers.