China: soaring container prices and nervous breakdown for expatriates who move
Audio 02:32
Containers and trucks in Yangshan deep water port in Shanghai, China on October 19, 2020. REUTERS - ALY SONG
By: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
6 mins
The soaring costs of maritime transport have very concrete consequences for expatriates in China.
The shortage of containers has doubled the price of international removals.
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From our correspondent in Beijing,
Legs and hands behind large boxes that swallow the steps to the third floor.
The scene is almost ordinary in the month of June in the residences where the “laowai”, the foreigners from Beijing, live.
It is the season of great migrations for expatriates, but since the health crisis, sometimes furniture leaves without its owners.
Antoine Richard came to give a hand to a neighbor who was unable to return to China: "
Here we are moving the apartment of a friend of mine who has been stranded in France for 14 months, so we are going to take his house as he left it 14 months ago when he left because of the Covid for 10-15 days.
So in fact, it's in the rough.
"
The suspension of visas and air fares prevented the return of families to Beijing. The price of the containers delayed the return of their personal effects. “
We are at levels that we have never seen in the last 15-20 years. On 40-foot wide containers, over a week it has increased by
2,500 dollars for journeys to Europe from China,
explains Romain Damiani, relocation manager in China.
As the containers do not return to China, it is the law of supply and demand, there are not enough containers to meet the needs of the market.
From there, prices soar.
Initially the boat, it is the smallest item of expenditure on an international move, it represents 20% of the budget.
Today it has become the most important.
We really have a factor of 1 by 5 which results in a doubling of the price.
"
Zombie apocalypse in China
The verb to leave in the future on a chalk board in the children's room, basins, plastic sheets on the bookcase. "
That's the whole problem when you're not there for 14 months, there has been water damage, and so in fact you find yourself dealing with emergency places that you know because you came once. dinner, but in fact with a life that has come to an end. It's a bit of the zombie apocalypse, but in China. So I tried to sort it out,
”says Antoine Richard, who came to help his neighbor.
“
Everyone sells their things, because we cannot afford to pay for the move, our bed, our sofa, so we resell everything,”
notes Marianne Daquet, creator of a group on the WeChat app. sell or leave ”.
She too is on the way out.
We even sell things we liked at a knockdown price, because in fact, since there are a lot of people who leave ...
""
It works very well.
All day long there are things to buy, to sell, and everything.
"
Furniture attached to the history of expatriate homes, but also books, clothes or air purifiers that will no longer be useful in Europe.
In the post-shipping world, moves are likely to be lighter.
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China
Expatriates
Economy