This past month has seen continued container delays, pricing and reliability pressures on the container shipping industry. The issues have become well publicised across most media outlets as information becomes more available.
Containerised freight prices have reported various levels of increases, the Drewry composite World Container index has risen for 17 straight weeks and now sits at $US9421.48 per 40-foot container, a 358% higher than the same week in August 2020.
For our customers, we suggest that you be aware of these increases and understand that this can significantly affect the cost of goods we sell. There is no suggestion that prices will ease in 2022 so please do not wait longer than normal in the hope of freight price reductions. Further to this for longer term supply contracts to ensure we can provide the best service possible discuss options with your sales representative to allow for the ever-changing freight costs.
Global schedule reliability has remained reasonably steady at 35-40% for the most part of 2021, the average vessel delay has also been 6-7 days. Noting that, to get containers from Asia to Australia and New Zealand a container may be on 2-3 vessels turning a 6–7-day delay per vessel, into a potential four week plus delay for each container.
To mitigate this risk for our customers Redox owns and operates, 7 sites with the ability to store in excess of 65,000 pallets. On top of this we have a further 50 sites worldwide in which we can store additional stock. As such we suggest either purchasing product early to ensure it is available when needed or discussing a storage solution with your Redox Representative.
We anticipate that these pressures will be ongoing for at least the next 18 Months and we will continue to assist our customers in understanding this information and how to minimise the on-going impact to your business.
Please continue to stay in close contact with your Redox Representative to discuss a range of strategies to reduce risk to your supply chain and to further understand how pricing and reliability will affect your business during the coming 18 months.