High shipping cost will continue until 2023 and the hardware tools export will face new challenges

In the year of frequent supply chain disruptions, global container ship freight rates have soared, and rising shipping costs are putting pressure on Chinese traders. Industry insiders said that high freight rates may continue until 2023, so hardware exports will face more challenges.

In 2021, China imports and exports business will continue to grow, and the export volume of the hardware tools industry is also growing rapidly. From January to September, the export value of my country’s hardware products industry was 122.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 39.2%. However, due to the continued raging of the new crown epidemic, rising raw material and labor costs, and global container shortages, it has brought a lot of pressure to foreign trade companies. At the end of the year, the emergence of the new coronavirus Omicron strain cast a shadow over the recovery of the world economy.

Before the outbreak covid-19, it was unimaginable that everyone would be charging $10,000 per container from Asia to the United States. From 2011 to early 2020, the average shipping cost from Shanghai to Los Angeles was less than $1,800 per container.

Before 2020, the price of a container shipped to the UK was $2,500, and now it is quoted at $14,000, an increase of more than 5 times.

In August 2021, sea freight from China to the Mediterranean exceeded US$13,000. Before the epidemic, this price was only around US$2,000, which is equivalent to a six-fold increase.

The data shows that the price of container freight will skyrocket in 2021, and the average price of China’s exports to Europe and the United States will increase by 373% and 93% year-on-year respectively.

In addition to the substantial increase in cost, what is even more difficult is that it is not only expensive but also difficult to book space and containers.

According to an analysis by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the high freight rates are likely to continue until 2023. If container freight rates continue to surge, the global import price index could rise by 11% and the consumer price index by 1.5% between now and 2023.