Reasons for the rise in prices
delivery. A new trend, that is disadvantageous to almost everyone, is the increase in transportation prices. For example,
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (Maersk), a Danish shipping company being the world's largest container carrier, increased its profit more than
10 times in the first six months of 2021.
The company gained such profit due to a combination of several factors:
· Covid-19 pandemic
· Deficit of containers due to the increased rate of online purchases during lockdown
· 7-days blockade of the Suez Canal by Ever Given container ship of Evergreen Corporation in March
· Yinfa Typhoon in Shanghai
Soren Scou, CEO of Maersk, said that the Company boosted its proceeds due to exceptional circumstances in the shipping market,
where the congestions and bottlenecks continued to drive up freight rates.
How do operators make money from logistic disruptions?
- Let’s look at an example situation. Imagine a ship: operators sell 90% of cells for containers for the “regular” price, and the remaining
10% for the “hot” price, since there will always be clients who need to ship their cargo as soon as possible. 90% of cells already bring profit
to the company, but 10% multiply it, since the “regular” price is the price of October 2020 multiplied by 4, and the “hot” price is 3 times higher.
Figures never lie: according to the statistics for the previous year, there was not a single loss-making company in the top 50 world container
companies, this has never happened in the history of the container business.
The increase in rates affects the profitability of both sea and rail container carriers.
Expert opinion
Actually, transportation by a forty-foot container costs about $ 17 000 (more than 1 million rubles), which is 7 times more than in
October-November of the last year.
Many experts believe that the cost has not yet reached its limit and will continue to grow, and the rates will begin decreasing no earlier
than spring 2022. However, the transportation cost will not drop to the rate before the pandemic.
Our logistics department constantly monitors information updates, so we will keep you informed of any relevant changes.
*- all data are taken from the RBC article