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Posted on September 15, 2021

Possible Cost Increase on Sea Freight due to COVID-19 Pandemic

In February 2021, Canvys sent out a notification regarding the freight and delivery time constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (https://www.canvys.com/news-press/blog/freight-and-delivery-times).

Since then, there have been updates regarding the highly critical situation impacting the cost of worldwide sea freight. According to the graphs below, orders by ocean freight have increased by approximately 50%, and prices are rising at record levels (approx. + 700 % within one year) — especially on the Far East to Europe trade routes.

Vessel Order Update

Source: DB SCHENKER

Update SCFI*

Source: DB SCHENKER

*) SCFI: Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (The most important rate indicator on sea freight from China)

Sea Freight Deliver Time Update

Source: DB SCHENKER

Source: DB SCHENKER

Despite continued port congestion, delivery times have remained the same — still at a very low rate, hovering around the 40 % mark since March 2021. In June 2021, schedule reliability improved by 0.8 percentage points from the previous month to 39.5 % but was -38.2 % lower than the same month of the previous year. The average delay for late ship arrivals increased by about six days in June 2021.

While we hope these exorbitant increases will be short-lived, experts fear they will continue for some time.

For most of this year, Canvys has successfully kept prices stable despite the rising freight costs. Unfortunately, this ongoing crisis has forced us to adjust our shipping costs. Our customer representatives will contact you if your order is affected by a freight price adjustment to discuss the change.

Rest assured, your team at Canvys is continuously looking for alternative freight channels and means to mitigate this unstable situation. To react quickly to any freight cost changes and to provide the best
possible outcome for you, it is critical that you inform your Canvys team member as early as possible of any changes related to your Canvys order or forecast.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. In the interim, we wish you and your team continued good health. We sincerely appreciate your business.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Learn more about the current situation!