<Anchor> As the
corona virus subsides and the global economy slowly recovers, there are many places that want goods, but the supply chain is not keeping up. In the aftermath, each port in the United States is full of containers, and in China, the producer price index hit an all-time high. These two countries leading the world economy can have repercussions even in Korea.
Correspondent Yunsu Kim in Washington and Correspondent Wook Song in Beijing deliver the information in turn.
<Reporter Yunsu Kim>
Dozens of cargo ships are floating off the coast of Los Angeles, USA.
Since the port is saturated, they are waiting for the order of arrival at sea.
[US Coast Guard: There are far more ships than facilities that can accommodate ships. We are instructing us to wait in the Pacific Ocean on our mobile phones.] As
containers piled up like a mountain in each port, a new word, 'Container Geddon', a combination of container and Armageddon, was coined.
As port workers and cargo drivers who quit due to Corona 19 have not yet returned, an unprecedented logistical turmoil has occurred.
[Meghan Green/International Economist: As the economy restarts, demand has skyrocketed, but logistics companies are not keeping up.] As the
situation worsened, President Biden convened an emergency response meeting.
First, the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which account for 40% of US container logistics, have decided to operate 24 hours a day.
Transport companies such as FedEx and large stores such as Home Depot have also extended their operating hours, and Samsung Electronics has also decided to increase working hours to expand production in the United States.
[President Biden/USA: This is the first key step to change the freight transportation and logistics system across the United States to a 24-hour operating system.]
However, even if logistics in the United States improves, it will take more time for the broken global distribution network to be rebuilt. The situation is also concerned about the damage to Korea's exports, which are aimed at US shopping at the end of the year.
Credit rating agency Moody's has forecast that dark clouds are coming.
(Video coverage: Oh Jeong-sik)
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<Reporter Song Wook>
A facility in China that produces lithium carbonate, an essential raw material for electric vehicle batteries, runs non-stop.
The price of lithium carbonate has risen more than 200% from the beginning of the year as demand is driven by a surge in electric vehicle production.
[Liu Huafeng / Lithium carbonate producer: Price fluctuations are relatively severe. Currently, the average price of lithium carbonate is rising about 3,000 yuan per ton (550,000 won) per day.]
The surge in raw material prices has hit China's producer prices.
China's producer price index rose 10.7% last month compared to the same month a year ago.
It is the highest in 25 years since statistics began to be compiled in 1996.
It means that the production cost of companies has risen, and China's producer price index has continued to rise this year.
Above all, the cost of energy, including coal, has soared, and the sluggish production of materials due to power shortages caused factories to fail, leading to an increase in prices.
[Jianjun Wang / Manager of a factory specializing in heat treatment of steel: I am very worried that power restrictions will occur frequently in the future.
If the restrictions continue, we can't produce.] The
problem is that the increased cost of production is reflected in consumer prices over time.
Rising product prices in China, the 'factory of the world', could have the effect of fueling global inflation by raising export prices.
The US consumer price index rose by 5% for the fifth straight month, and Korea's import price index recorded the highest level in seven years and seven months.
In particular, it is predicted that the price increase will continue as the Chinese government allows an increase in electricity rates to solve the electricity shortage.
(Video coverage: Choi Duk-hyun, video editing: Lee Seung-yeol)