Affected by the epidemic and the Suez Canal ship jam, the global shipping industry has continued to face a situation where it is difficult to find a container since last year. The comprehensive container freight index has hit record highs and has now reached 2216.63 points, which was the highest level before the epidemic. Three or four times.
The global shipping industry is a world of ice and fire.
Nowadays, the global shipping industry is a world of ice and fire. The epidemic situation in many overseas countries is severe and there is a shortage of manpower. Containers are piling up at ports; major ports in Asia are busy with transportation, but they are often troubled by “lack of containers” and “failure of containers”. Container prices have skyrocketed. Some shipping routes have increased nearly 10 times, and it is still “hard to find a container.”
Unlike in China, where it is hard to find a container, the Port of Auckland in New Zealand has a serious backlog of empty containers. Since the second half of 2020, in order to store those empty containers that cannot be transported, They have found five new storage yards.
In addition, data shows that 10,000 to 15,000 containers are stranded in California, the United States; and at the Port of Felixstowe in the United Kingdom, containers have spread from the port to the surrounding suburbs; Australian ports are empty The number of containers exceeds 50,000.
Currently, the inventory of empty containers in some important international ports is three times the normal level.
The reasons for the pressure on the supply of empty containers
There are several obvious reasons:
The largest inventory in the history of the US economy Reconstruction operations;
COVID-19 has caused many containers to pile up and be stranded at port terminals;
Another reason is that the Chinese factories that manufacture containers have been shut down in 2020 due to the outbreak. Temporarily closed from April to June. Generally speaking, 3.5 million to 4 million new 20TEU containers enter the logistics system every year, and the loss in the first quarter of factory closure is 1 million TEU.
It is reported that the current global 20TEU container production capacity is estimated to be 50 million, which means a gap of 2%. Coupled with the aforementioned 10% additional demand, the supply gap for containers is 12%.
DPWorld stated that the current problem is very serious and may cause a collapse effect at any time.
It is hard to find a box, which gave rise to the mysterious organization “Empty Box Scalpers”
“Friends, you want to cut down empty boxes? 1,000 each.”
Everyone must be familiar with the word “scalper”. Whether it is Spring Festival train tickets or concert tickets, it can be said that wherever there is demand, there are scalpers. “Empty container scalpers” are people who take advantage of cargo owners’ desire for containers to obtain empty containers through illegal means and sell them at high prices.
Where did the scalper’s box come from? In one case, the empty containers are withdrawn from the shipping company by falsely reporting the bill of lading and then resold; in the other case, the empty containers are “hidden” by “manipulating” the empty container reservation system inside the terminal. The reason why scalpers have so many magical powers is that they must have built a strong network of relationships among shipping companies and terminals.
According to multiple media reports, some scalpers took the opportunity to raise prices, and some routes may not be able to grab a container even if they increase the price by US$3,000.
Now, in addition to the government’s introduction of relevant policies to increase route capacity and ensure the return of empty containers, shipping companies have also made relevant efforts. For example, Tradewinds Shipping orders prohibit employees from interfering with the flow of empty containers. COSCO Shipping also stipulates that the destination selected when booking is not allowed to be changed midway to prevent scalpers from “cheating” empty containers through false manifests.
Under such circumstances, what needs to be done most at present is to further strengthen the overall management of containers and promote the accelerated shipment of containers back to China. Only in this way can it be possible to further alleviate China’s ocean shipping problems.
For cargo owners, they should jointly boycott this kind of behavior that breaks market rules. Once such behavior is acquiesced, it will inevitably encourage more and more people to take risks for the sake of profit.
The current prosperity of the shipping industry reflects the shortcomings in the industry. What we should do is not to acquiesce and condone. After all, after the gun is fired, there is no winner. </p
