By Arthur Chen   Photo：Pixabay ，Link：Pexels

The severe shortage of new container, which attributes to sky-high ocean freight rate, could not be solved in this year by the forecast from most of carriers. It is said one of the US institutions has looked into the independent investigation of the reason behind of high ocean freight. One of the reasons might involve the manipulation of insufficient supply of newly built containers in China. 80% of new built containers were made in China. It becomes an issue of the US’s national security that leads the whole economic recovery after vaccination at high risk because of space shortage and high transportation cost from Asia to the US. 

On the other hand, the ports congestion in the US has accelerated the shortage. Even the waiting time in berthing to US ports has slowly improved to 12 days according to Maersk. No sufficient equipment available in all Asian loading ports are a widespread painful truth.  The standard procedure from booking through containers departure before the pandemic were considered much efficient and easy to complete them which were – Book space to liners, confirmed by ship lines, data transferred to container ramps, arrange truck to pick up empty containers for shippers to load cargo, send stuffed containers back to seaports, customs declarations done, container uplifted to vessels, departure.  The procedure took 2-3 days from booking through truck in picking up empty containers in ramps. How many days you guess it took from Jan 2021 till now? 2-3 weeks !!!!

Most of the time wasted at “receiving confirmation of space from liners”, “ release available equipment from container ramps” as well as “arranging available trucks pick and deliver containers” !!  These three main obstacles have cost huge man power even triple times or more now a day in WAITING !  Lots of overtime works then ever.  It is all because of the supply of available containers far less than demand of space. Liners has open booking window from 2 to 4 weeks prior vessels sailing at this day so to arrange a shipment shall cost a operation staff in freight forwarders 4 weeks the minimum. Those extra labor cost shall be also going to the total transportation cost. People use “ The Butterfly effect “ to explain this initial container shortage to cause ocean freight rate raising up without celling in 2021.

In additionally, Evergreen pricking depart recent new game rule. They are going to accept the booking for mid of June which means 4 weeks ahead from sailing. They put up a bottom premium price that guaranteed space started from USD 8,000/40’, China to NY /east coast, which open for bidding and whoever offer the highest price shall be granted the said space. USD 8,000/40’ is kind of low and the market primum rate is estimated looked at USD 15,000/40’. The power of butterfly has swinged up consumption rate in the sky.