Are you about to move to Saudi Arabia and you want to ship your belongings in a shipping container? Your business is all about shipping to Saudi Arabia regularly. No matter what the situation is, the container prices surge in 2021 is insane. Prices skyrocketed and many businesses shut down and the rest are struggling to stay afloat. The rest are barely managing to support their customer’s needs and demands on time or to ship items at all. Therefore, we will explain why this is happening and how to cope with this change. Let’s take a look.
More than 300% container prices surge in 2021
The main and the only reason for container prices surge in 2021 is the Covid 19 pandemic. It is slowing everything down as well as the return of empty containers. Once a dock is shut down, all containers are stuck in one place. There is no ship nor return. This means that millions of dollars are hemorrhaged and businesses bankrupt. The same goes for both overseas shipment and air freight. So, you must calculate your budget as soon as possible to realize if your business can survive such a scenario and for how long. Work on a contingency plan in case you become a victim of a lockdown.
Why is this happening?
Not all countries have the same laws about importing and export. Also, the demand and supply are different as well. Some countries export far more than others while custom clearance takes days or even weeks in some countries. All those stages take a huge toll on everyone’s business and the whole chain of operation. When we add the pandemic situation to it, everything becomes much harder and more expensive. And as we already said, containers are being held for a long time which means there are not so many in circulation. Therefore, we ended up with a container prices surge in 2021.
How will container prices surge in 2021 impact the business?
Easy, you won’t be able to access any of your goods if there is a lockdown. Or you will wait for weeks to fulfill your shipment. Or you will wait for another week for the customs clearance. Finally, if you face the lockdown and your cargo is held for a month, you can miss the delivery time window and lose your customer. Moreover, if you are shipping perishables, then time is of the essence and you most likely won’t make it. Those kinds of businesses must find another way to ship their goods. A fine example is flowers, food, candy, raw materials, etc. But there might be a solution if you check your local relocation services Saudi Arabia. Your moving company might have a few shipping containers to spare in these hard times.
This is an amazing way to solve all your problems. Check if you can rent a POD or a portable shipping container from your international movers Jeddah. They also have a huge network of associates and they are usually working on many various sites which means they can avoid the lockdown. If you are lucky, you can find a container and reroute it to a dock in the nearby area and queue for shipment. It is just an idea and definitely worth a try. Remember this if the situation arises.
What can you do to speed up the shipping process?
In most cases, if the dock is under a lockdown you can’t do a thing. But you can reroute your shipment to a different one that is open if you can access your warehouse. It will cost much more but if you must invest a bit more to meet the demand and keep your customer happy, then you can do it. So, check the custom clearance and freight forwarding in the area that are not affected by the lockdown and if possible reroute your shipment.
This is all you should know about the container prices surge in 2021. As you can see, the situation is bad because of the current pandemic situation. And there is no one to blame and little you can do about it. Try to keep your business on a positive zero at least while the situation settles down a bit. Until then, stay safe. Good luck.
