Where is the corona-damaged container?
February 15, 14:58
Now, there are some that have risen sharply to nearly three times the price of a year ago.
This is the freight rate for container ships, which are responsible for global logistics.
It has been pointed out that this is due to the global shortage of containers for loading luggage, and if the impact is prolonged, it may lead to an increase in the price of goods that consumers buy.
Unusual shortage of containers.
As I proceeded with the interview, it became clear that the new coronavirus was also involved here.
(Keita Kage, Directorate General of Asia / Fumio Sugaya, Reporter of Los Angeles Bureau)
Heavy traffic in the harbor
"I can't secure a container." "I have no choice but to carry it by plane because there is no container."
Since last fall, when I talk to people from trading companies and export-related companies, I almost always hear that there are not enough containers.
Containers are "boxes" that are indispensable for logistics.
Why are we running out now?
We proceeded with the interview based on the story of a port official who said, "It seems that one of the causes is an American port."
In late January, I visited the port of Los Angeles, the gateway to the sea connecting Asia such as China and the United States.
Together with the adjacent Long Beach Port, it is a major logistics base that accounts for about 40% of the total container handling volume in the United States.
What jumped into the eyes of the reporter who went up to the hill was a huge container ship that berthed off the harbor.
The number is about 30.
The ship looks like it's waiting for departure, but the opposite is true.
After voyages from Asia and elsewhere, I was waiting for my turn to enter the port and unload.
"I can't always see it." "It's an unusual sight."
There was an incident that the people involved in the port accidentally leaked.
The increase in corona sickness is ...
This incident is exactly one of the causes of the global shortage of containers.
According to experts, the spread of the new coronavirus caused a significant reduction in container transport around last spring.
However, after that, the transportation volume turned around and increased sharply from around summer.
This is because the so-called “needing demand” has expanded rapidly in the United States.
People who can't travel or go to the gym are believed to have spent their money on buying home appliances and daily necessities online, and retail sales in November and December last year, which is the year-end sales season in the United States, are corona. It increased by 8.3% compared to the previous adult.
In order to meet the demand for nesting, a large number of containers loaded with goods from Asia such as China headed for the west coast of the United States across the Pacific Ocean.
Demand for nesting has increased not only in the United States but also in other parts of the world, and there are statistics that the world's trade volume has increased from the previous month for the sixth consecutive month since June last year.
(CPB, SMBC Nikko Securities)
Fares tripled
Since the latter half of last year, a large amount of luggage has been flooded, but there is a shortage of workers and drivers on the harbor side, making it difficult to handle the luggage.
The amount of luggage continues to exceed the processing capacity of the port.
As a result, containers have accumulated in ports in the United States, and it is said that sufficient quantities cannot be returned to Asia and other countries.
It is the "uneven distribution" of containers.
More than 90% of the containers used in the world are produced in China, but due to the rapid increase in demand, the supply of new containers is not in time.
As a result of the global shortage of containers and the tight supply and demand of transportation, the freight rates of container ships have risen sharply since last summer.
According to Hong Kong information firm Freights, the fare per 40-foot container has exceeded $ 4,000 on the route from China, the main logistics artery, to the west coast of the United States.
In early February, it soared to $ 4,334, nearly triple that of a year ago.
It has been the highest since 2017 when the company began collecting information.
Until the port closes!
??
Things could get even worse in the future.
In January, a document released by a trade union made up of port workers in Los Angeles and elsewhere stated that "it may be necessary to consider closing the port to protect the health and safety of workers," two The possibility of port closure was also mentioned.
According to the document, as of mid-January, more than 690 workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were infected with the new coronavirus, and there is an urgent need to take measures against the infection.
Aftermath also on the opposite bank
The impact of container shortages has spread around the world.
Thailand, one of the world's leading rice exporters, is one of them.
Since around the fall of last year, it has become difficult for companies in the suburbs of Bangkok, which export about 80,000 tons of rice annually to Australia and the United States, to secure containers through the port.
As a result, it was not possible to export as planned, and so far it has missed export opportunities for about 200 containers, or about 400 million yen in value.
Moreover, even if you have a hard time securing containers, soaring fares are pushing down profits.
CEO Tanyawan
"Only one-third of the required amount of containers has returned from overseas. I could never have predicted that this would happen."
After hearing the complaints of the exporters, the government has taken steps in Thailand to collect about 2000 unused used containers and consider whether they can be reused.
Even in Japan, it has become difficult to secure containers, and we are hearing voices that exports of daily necessities are beginning to be delayed.
Will things go up in price?
What will happen to the container shortage in the future?
Hiromasa Goto, a researcher at the Japan Maritime Center, who is investigating world shipping, points out that "the problem is expected to be resolved at the earliest after March, and in some cases it may be prolonged." To do.
"If distribution costs rise and are passed on to products, it is possible that the prices of various items purchased by consumers will rise."
Rapid increases and decreases in transportation volume, changes in consumption, and labor shortages at ports.
If the incidents surrounding marine transportation caused by the new coronavirus are prolonged, it may have an impact on households.
Keita Kage,
Directorate General of Asia
Joined the
Ministry of Economic Affairs in
2005
and was in charge of financial and financial coverage
since last summer.
Los Angeles bureau reporter
Fumio Sugaya
Joined in 2002
After working at Gifu Broadcasting Station, New Delhi bureau, Islamabad bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, etc.