Prices in freight transport break all records, which affects the rise in prices of goods. In container shipping, we find that the demand for transport far exceeds the current supply.
Recently, we have witnessed an enormous rise in various raw materials, semi-finished products and products. The increase is seen in energy, metals, food and other goods that we import from Asian countries. The rise in prices is mainly due to astronomical price increases in the field of shipping.
In 2020, prices for transporting a container from China hovered around $ 2,000, and today we can observe that prices are up to eight times higher. The rise in prices was seen after the first wave of the epidemic when many factories in Asia and Europe stopped production. After the restart, the demand for shipping suddenly increased dramatically, followed by a rise in fares.
Andrej Cah said for the RTV SLO web portal, "Today we are talking about prices from the Far East to Koper, prices also range up to $ 15,000 for a 40-foot-long container, while a year ago they were between two and three thousand".
Gracian Necmeskal, president of the Association of Transport Maritime Agencies, said, "A bunch of smaller older ships have been scrapped. New ships will come on the market in the next two to three years, and in fact, the lack of shipping space is the main factor determining market prices".
As we find out, the pandemic is mainly in the hands of shipowners. There has also been a halt to traffic in the Suez Canal, affecting fare growth. Before that, shipowners had been operating at a loss for many years and struggling to survive in the market.
In the coming period, we can expect that the pressure on prices will continue. Rising prices have an impact mainly on the final consumer.
For more information regarding maritime transport, you can contact the RCM Koper Team at [email protected].