On August 11, a positive case of COVID-19 was found at the terminal of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the world's largest port, which triggered the emergency closure and suspension of operations in the Meishan Port area that day, which made the already tight international capacity worse.
Affected by the epidemic and other multiple impacts, the continuously rising ocean freight rates have recently regained a frenzied upward trend. Among them, the spot price of 40-foot standard containers from China to the United States hit a record high of more than US$20,000. In addition to high prices, "a box is hard to find" has forced a large number of foreign trade products to be backlogged in warehouses and cannot be shipped out in time.
Products piled up in the corners of warehouses and factories
Regarding the recent frenzied increase in sea freight, Zhu Xinchun, general manager of Yiwu Hanlin Electronics Co., Ltd., which sells more than 10 million clock products to the world every year, said frankly that "the impact is extremely large."
Raw material price increases and out-of-stock risks remain
In addition to the surge in ocean freight, high raw material prices and the risk of shortages are also affecting the profits and subsequent orders of foreign trade companies.
