The fast-tracked increase of online purchasing requires a faster pace of container deployment, however, as congestion in ports remains high, how can the supply chain meet the expected delivery times? With more and more demand for containers, and with less availability, experts are now addressing a ‘container crisis’, understood as a combination of the scarcity of transport space available to ship products.
This in turn causes exorbitant increases in maritime transport costs, which entails significant effects on merchants and ultimately, consumers. According to the World Container Index (WCI), which tracks freight container shipping costs, as of October 14th, 2021, such cost reached $9,900.25 per 40-foot container, which is 283% higher than a year ago (in 2020).
If freight tariffs continue growing at this exponential rate, causing inflation to go out of control, not only might the industry see its future compromised but there could be severe problems at a macroeconomic level. On that note, Takeshi Hashimoto, Managing Director at Japanese shipping line MOL, said in an interview to the Financial Times that governments should intervene to prevent this situation from escalating.