Soaring global shipping costs are pushing up the prices of everything from coffee to toys, adding fuel to rising inflation.When central banks in major economies such as the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Norway and Brazil announce interest rate decisions this week, markets are likely to be watching closely for their views on inflation, especially if the Federal Reserve will give clues about its exit strategy in the summer.
The average rate for shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam in the Netherlands has risen to a record $10,522, 547 per cent higher than the average rate over the past five years, according to Drewry Shipping.Since 80% of the world's traded products are shipped by sea, soaring freight prices will push up the prices of everything from toys to furniture and car parts to coffee, sugar and anchovies.
Retailers can only stop trading, raise prices or absorb the additional costs themselves and pass them on later, said Espin, manager of the European Airlines Association.Already, he says, some retailers are passing on costs to consumers.Europe has stopped importing anchovies from Peru, and European olive oil producers have stopped exporting to the United States.Shipping bottlenecks and rising costs have also affected trade in Arabica and Robusta beans.
Surging demand for products, saturated ports, and shortages of ships and Labour are squeezing capacity on all fixed routes.The situation is exacerbated by recent outbreaks in Asia's export hubs.The most affected are ocean routes, where prices from Shanghai to Rotterdam, for example, are 67 per cent higher than those from Shanghai to the US west.
In the past, sea freight rates had little impact on inflation because they accounted for only a small part of the cost of exporting goods, but now they cannot be ignored.HSBC estimates that a 205% rise in container-freight rates over the past year will add 2% to euro-zone producer prices.
As a result, the market will be watching to see what central bankers say about the outlook for inflation on the "super central bank day" on the 17th.Central banks in the United States, Brazil, Switzerland, Norway and Indonesia are all due to announce their decisions on Friday, with Brazil expected to raise interest rates by three cents to 4.25 percent, Norway likely to reiterate the need to start a tightening cycle later this year and others expected to hold their fire.
, chairman of the Fed is expected to keep policy unchanged, Powell may also reiterated that rising inflation is just a temporary phenomenon, but the market will look inside the Powell will reveal the Fed has been talking about the cut bond buying the size of the breeze, and focus on the Fed's latest economic forecasts, and revealed that officials estimate placement rates "dot", evaluate the Fed could raise rates start time.J.P. Morgan thinks the dot chart will show the Fed raising rates in 2023.
Observers generally agree that container rates are unlikely to fall sharply in the short term because there is no spare capacity in the shipping system.Retailers of low-priced goods such as toys and furniture have been hardest hit by rising freight rates.Some manufacturers have sought to shorten component supply chains to cut costs, while European manufacturers have turned to trucks to transport car parts, bicycles and electric scooters from China.
