Crash! European freight rates soared 4 times, logistics and delivery were delayed on a large scale

Under the epidemic, residents' demand for online purchases has increased, driving up the number of orders from retailers in various countries. However, port congestion, rising transportation costs, and shortages of commodity inventory have also become problems for package delivery, causing headaches for sellers.

Freight costs are rising and goods are in serious shortage

Due to the shortage of containers, the shipping prices of European routes have increased, and the freight costs of most retailers have continued to rise. The latest data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange shows that the freight rate from China to Europe is US$4,400 per 20-foot (6-meter) container, which has increased by four times. The survey data of 900 small and medium-sized enterprises by the international freight market Freightos showed that 77% of the companies had encountered supply chain difficulties in the past six months.

Halfords, one of the largest bicycle retailers in Europe, is facing a huge inventory gap due to the difficulty in obtaining containers and the increase in shipping routes; British toy retailer The Entertainer ships about 50 containers from the Far East every week, which is about 200 fewer than before; Milan toy retailer Nano Bleu also said that its product supply has dropped sharply and commodity prices remain high.

Carton materials are out of stock, package delivery is delayed

In addition to the transportation problem of "it's hard to get empty boxes", what transporters and retailers never expected was that the booming online ordering led to a shortage of cardboard packages , as consumers began to order everything from bicycles to green plants.

Jawbone Brewing, a beer retailer in London, UK, had to postpone its delivery date by three weeks due to a shortage of cartons. Its founder frantically searched for the right double-layer shipping boxes to fully protect the beer cans during transportation. In the end, the company bought 3,000 non-standard packaging boxes at twice the price.

Even large supermarkets such as Asda and Lidl are starting to feel uneasy. They have to use plastic cartons to pack eggs, but have been strongly criticized on social media for environmental protection issues. Asda responded on Twitter: "The shortage of cartons affects all retailers. Although these plastics are 100% recyclable, we hope to return to the carton era as soon as possible."

The boss of packaging company Rightbox said, "This problem has existed since October last year, but it is even crazier now. A standard cardboard box can be delivered within a week, but now it takes two months or even three months. " The Confederation of Paper Industries ( CPI) also said, "Although Christmas orders peaked, the inventory backlog before and after Brexit has exacerbated the problem, and the epidemic has also caused huge problems in global transportation. "

Faced with the headache-inducing freight problem, sellers must pay more attention, pay close attention to freight dynamics, communicate with freight companies, and explain the reasons for delayed delivery to users.

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Europe