Asia-UK shipping rates increase by 400 per cent
Import costs from Asia are at a record high because of a surge in demand due to Brexit and the pandemic.
Fees for containers filled with goods from the Far East have increased four-fold in recent weeks, reports the Guardian. Shipping experts blame the double body-blow of Brexit and the Coronavirus for the spiralling overheads.
Container rates from Asia have now reached $10,000 for a 40ft unit for the first time and increased global demand and congestion in UK ports have contributed to a dearth of container units. Online shopping during lockdown is adding to a huge increase in volumes world-wide and Vincent Clerc, CCO for Maersk said: “It is really crazy how much we are moving at the moment, huge amounts.”
Simon Wolfson, boss of fashion retailer, Next, succinctly summed up the problem earlier this week; he said that his company’s stock was down 10 per cent on last year and that the problem of re-supply was not due to getting goods into the country, but rather getting goods into a container at the point of origin.
