- the global shipping industry did not have enough infrastructure and emergency preparedness to deal with the impact of COVID-19
- container prices soared to their all-time high
- the slow return of empty containers also continued to plague the industry
- the labor-intensive shipping industry is facing problems at every stage
- accelerated spread of the pandemic and the impact of extreme weather have caused serious damage to the global supply chain
COVID-19 triggered a crisis of ocean containers. But, many shipping lines such as Mediterranean Shipping Company, CMA CGM SA, and Maersk Line have also emerged as unlikely beneficiaries, making a pile of profits for more than a year. The essential reason is the mismatch between supply and demand says an article on Xinde Marine news.
How the pandemic affected
When the pandemic broke out, the global shipping industry did not have enough infrastructure and emergency preparedness to deal with the impact of COVID-19. Since then, troubles have been snowballing. This, in turn, has increased problems in the world’s supply chains.
Prices soar
One of the major events that occurred during the pandemic was the blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given, whose movement turned erratic due to a sandstorm, and ran aground across the narrow channel. The movement of daily items, liquefied natural gas, crude and refined oil, grains, and other bulk commodities was affected.
Poor circulation of containers
The slow return of empty containers also continued to plague the industry. The problem is poor circulation of containers due to two main reasons: one, the more than two dozen busiest ports in the world are currently in a state of traffic congestion; two, the resurgence of COVID-19 has halted and affected economic and industrial activities in many countries and regions.
Factors affecting the global supply chain
At present, a multitude of factors are seriously affecting the global supply chain: the continuous increase in demand for inventory replenishment; insufficient capacity of ships, containers, and trucks; shortage of truck drivers; a still severe pandemic situation; labor shortages; low operational efficiency of various links like warehouses, storage yards, and internal ports.
Shortage of manpower
In fact, the labor-intensive shipping industry is facing problems at every stage, be it the process of transportation, the loading, and unloading both at ports at either end of the transportation and at warehouses, or inland circulation. Everywhere, shortage of manpower is having an impact.
Global supply chain
The accelerated spread of the pandemic and the impact of extreme weather have caused serious damage to the global supply chain. The recent spread of the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus has had a particularly prominent impact on manufacturing businesses in Southeast Asia, especially in Vietnam.
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Source: XindeMarine News
