The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI), a leading indicator of global freight costs, recorded a cost per container of $3,101 on Friday. This is an increase of about 310 percent since Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists began attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea. .
The SCFI price for a 20-foot shipping container was $2,871 last Friday, so costs rise steadily by the week as shippers abandon the vital Red Sea trade route for slower, more expensive alternatives. are doing.
sky news I got it. Insurance costs for shipping companies are rising, as are crew costs and fuel allocations for long-distance alternative routes around the Cape of Good Hope. Moreover, the Houthi unrest comes just before China's Spring Festival and Lunar New Year, a period when Iranian proxies in Yemen have not blocked off the Red Sea when demand increases and shipping costs soar. It would have been.
Several major retailers have begun notifying customers that delivery disruptions will result in increased costs, delayed delivery of goods, or both. On Thursday, electric car maker Tesla shutdown The company's Gigafactory in Brandenburg, Germany, will be out of commission for at least two weeks after parts supplies from Asia are cut off due to the Houthi turmoil.
Germany's Volvo too announced Due to parts shortages, some production at its European facilities will be suspended. In particular, Volvo announced that it would close its plant in Ghent, Belgium, for three days due to delays in gearbox deliveries.
British clothing retailer Next warned “If access difficulties to the Suez Canal continue, there will likely be some delays in inventory deliveries at the beginning of the year.”
Swedish furniture giant IKEA was one of the first major retailers to warn of product shortages due to the Red Sea crisis.ikea Said Before Christmas, there may be “stock restrictions” on some items. The company pledged to “take all necessary precautions” to keep those working in its supply chain safe and to evaluate “other supply options.”
“If the Red Sea disruption continues for another two to three weeks, we will see a shortage of products on shelves in April and May,” said Seth Frederickson, vice president of product management at supply chain analyst FourKites. he warned.
crude oil price Rose It rose to more than 1% on Friday as tankers were diverted from the Red Sea route following U.S. and British airstrikes against the Houthis. At least three major oil tanker companies have announced they are suspending all shipping routes through the Red Sea.
Dennis Kistler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial, predicts that “increasing tensions in the Middle East” could disrupt the current “equilibrium” between supply and demand, pushing prices up by $5 to $7 per barrel. did.
Oil industry analysts are particularly concerned about problems on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, where Iran is located. confiscated A tanker full of Iraqi crude oil may be preparing to set sail on Thursday, disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced On Thursday, revenue was down 40 percent since the beginning of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Ship traffic decreased by 30 percent compared to the previous year.
The loss of revenue will be a major blow to Egypt, as Suez Canal tolls are one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency. The Egyptian government recently invested The new expansion of the canal is in addition to a previous expansion completed in 2015, aimed at increasing revenue.
SCA chief Osama Rabie said Egypt had tried in vain to persuade shippers to continue using the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal by offering discounts and other incentives. He expected that “the vast majority of goods” normally transported through the canal would resume once the Red Sea crisis was resolved.
London-based business daily CityAM was not convinced that things would return to normal so quickly, but calculate Ship traffic passing through Suez has fallen by nearly 90 percent year-on-year since the Houthi offensive began, and the resulting rise in shipping costs could become “a new catalyst for global inflation.” It is said that there is.
