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Welcome to the Thomas Index Report for the week of August 16th.
Last month, a series of COVID-19 outbreaks in Chinese ports caused the worst shipping delays in years, the impacts of which we will likely still be feeling by the time the holiday season arrives. But port closures are only part of the story behind the recent shipping delays impacting virtually every sector, from furniture deliveries to food product shortages.
Shipping containers, especially refrigerated ones, have been extremely hard for manufacturers and distributors to find and fill with goods over the past few months. A key element of the supply chain, shipping containers transport large volumes of goods along global shipping routes. Problems first arose in early 2020 when shipping lines canceled some routes amid growing COVID-19 case numbers worldwide, but shipping container availability worsened as unpredictable port closures, the Suez Canal blockage, and intensifying labor shortages left containers stranded. As a result, international freight costs have also grown dramatically, with limited availability, lengthy delays, and lackluster service causing issues throughout the global supply chain.
These shortages are not limited only to shipping containers. On Thomasnet.com, our data shows that sourcing for shipping boxes is up 289% percent year over year and 500% over last quarter averages. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that 2020’s monumental surge in e-commerce led Americans to use more corrugated cardboard boxes last year than ever before, causing a global shortage of packaging materials.
While shipping box availability has been improving, with few regulatory options available to address the shipping container challenges, industry experts expect those shortages and associated shipping delays to last until early 2022.
I’m Tony Uphoff, and this is the Thomas Index Report.
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