There are still two or three weeks to go before the Spring Festival holiday. The peak of shipments a year ago has been urgently reached, but the lack of compartments and containers and trailers that continued from last year to this year continues, which makes export and forwarding companies miserable.
Due to the special market situation this year, the epidemic began to rebound in December and entered the new year. Major exporters and freight forwarders have already geared up to plan ahead. Affected by the epidemic, this year is different from the past, but the same is still lack of space. Lack of cabinets and trailers!
It can be described as:
Grabbed a space and lacked boxes;
The box was grabbed and there was no space;
The compartments are all grabbed, and there is no trailer...
Small containers are becoming a key factor affecting the global trade industry chain. At present, in the field of foreign trade, containers, spaces and trailers are the hurdles that cannot be crossed in the international logistics chain, and it has become a consensus that "the one who wins the container wins the world".
Since July last year, my country’s exports have continued to pick up. With the increase in replenishment demand from overseas customers, the export volume has risen sharply. Both the shipping market and the China-Europe freight train market have seen shortages of containers, soaring freight rates, and delayed turnover.
Statistics from the China Container Association show that China's export containers are mainly satisfied in two ways: unloading old containers after unloading at ports, and new containers made by Chinese container manufacturers.
my country can only return one for every 3.5 containers exported. A large number of empty containers are backlogged in the United States, Europe, Australia and other places, and there is a shortage of containers in Asia.
At present, there are dead congestion and slow operations in ports around the world. Containers that can usually be returned within 60 days are now delayed to 100 days, and the cost of renting containers has also increased by about 150%.
Zhang Jun, deputy general manager of Qingdao Port QQCT, once said: Under normal circumstances, if 1,000 containers are needed in the current period, there will usually be 1,200 to 1,300 containers waiting at the port. However, in the current situation where containers are in short supply, there may be only 800 to 900 containers at the terminal. .
According to a survey on China's shipping industry , over 90% of container companies said that the lack of containers will continue for 3 months or more . Therefore, the shortage of containers still exists in the short term, and the freight rate in the container transportation market will continue to be affected by the shortage of empty containers. Container companies need to take effective measures to deal with the shortage of containers.
▍In addition to the hard to find a box, there is also "a cabin hard to find"
Major freight forwarders have launched fierce bidding wars to secure containers and space. According to reports, several shipping companies have already started the first and second rounds of bidding, and the bidder with the highest bid can obtain the right to ensure the cargo loading and transportation this month.
According to foreign media reports, according to the news with the Chinese freight forwarding company, the shipping company is quoting the available space for flights departing from Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao and Yantian at the end of January, and the price per 40-foot high container to the UK is less than 16,000 US dollars. , The quotations of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Le Havre are less than $10,500 per 40-foot high cabinet, which is unlikely to succeed.
Most freight forwarders said that after the Chinese New Year holiday starting on February 12, the freight rates from Asia to Europe will fall but will not collapse, especially when shipping companies have rarely cancelled only a few voyages so far this year. under.
In addition to high freight rates, freight forwarders are facing the real challenge of "bursting cabins". The freight forwarder who can't pay the high price can't book the space at all, and the long-term customer's cargo cannot enter the port and board the ship on time.
Due to insufficient space, shipping companies will detain many of the space booked by freight forwarders until the next flight in order to maximize their benefits. For large forwarders, the loss caused by dumping containers may still be within the tolerable range. For those small and medium freight forwarders who rely on a few large customers themselves, the disadvantage of insufficient competitiveness in this case may directly lead to difficulties.
As the "middleman" between the customer and the shipping company, the flood of cabins at the end of the year was enough to make the freight forwarding "messy in the cold wind" gradually.
▍Finally , one thing to mention is to be wary of drivers without tow trucks.
Seeing that the Spring Festival is approaching, the domestic epidemic has become more serious during this period. Many regions across the country have issued the "non-essential non-return home" initiative. So far, 31 provinces and cities have strengthened their prevention efforts.
But for tow truck drivers, they travel at the port all year round, and it is rare to reunite with their families throughout the year, so most drivers will choose to go home! This again makes shipping face a huge problem, and drivers will soon be insufficient!
Although there will be a shortage of drivers during the Spring Festival in the past, this year due to the impact of the epidemic, the shortage of drivers may not only become more serious, but it may also come earlier!
At present, there are a total of 72 medium- and high-risk areas in China, and almost all returnees from medium- and high-risk areas need nucleic acid testing + home isolation.
Take Henan Province, a large populous province, for example. During the Spring Festival, the policy is: for personnel entering Zheng from high-risk areas, their personal health codes are marked as red codes, and the measures of "centralized isolation for 14 days + 2 nucleic acid tests + 1 serum test" will be implemented. Take care of yourself. If the quarantine period expires and there is no abnormality in the test results, a release form will be issued, and the personal health code will be adjusted to a green code for normal and orderly flow. If the detection result is abnormal, the control measures shall be implemented in accordance with relevant regulations.
With such strict control measures, if drivers choose to return to their hometown to reunite with their families, they must start preparations in advance, and they must be quarantined back and forth to extend the time for drivers to return home.
If there are not enough drivers, the efficiency of export trailers will be seriously affected, and the price of land transportation will rise accordingly. During the Spring Festival in previous years, the price of land transportation will probably increase by 20%-50%. This year, it is likely to double or even several times like ocean freight!
