Shipping Delays Challenging Christmas

Australian consumers have been warned to get their Christmas shopping done early to avoid disappointment, as the global shipping crisis continues to cause long delays.

With supply chain disruptions, labour shortages, a surge in demand and Covid-19 outbreaks forcing numerous port operations to temporarily shut down, increasing port congestion and shipping delays with a cascading delay effect across the globe.

Freight costs on key global container routes have increased around seven-fold compared with this time last year. Despite the increased costs, shipping lines are still struggling to deliver goods on time, causing major headaches for Australian businesses including the effects of vastly reduced profit margins.

A number of Australian exporters & importer are struggling to meet their contractual obligations, and some large retailers are now really concerned that their cargo will not arrive before Christmas.

The current situation is very challenging for businesses that rely on container freight.