Expect higher prices: 45% of freight being detoured around the Horn of Africa

Suez-Canal-Ship

Important Takeaways:

  • Freight through Suez Canal sinks 45% amid Houthi attacks
  • About 39% fewer ships have passed through the canal than at the start of December, leading to a 45% decline in freight tonnage
  • UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which supports developing countries in global trade, says that 39% fewer ships than at the start of December transited the canal, leading to a 45% decline in freight tonnage.
  • Container shipments through the canal tumbled 82% in the week to January 19 from early December, while for liquified natural gas (LNG), the decline was even greater. The drop-off for dry bulk was smaller, and crude oil tanker traffic was very slightly higher, the agency said, according to Reuters.
  • The Suez Canal is a critical shipping lane, given that it offers vessels a direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
  • About 15% of world shipping traffic, including 30% of global container trade, passes through the Suez Canal. But to avoid being attacked or having their cargo stolen, many ships are instead sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, which is a much longer way around the continent of Africa.

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National Rail labor strike could take place July 18 making supply chain woes even worse

Rev 6:6 NAS “And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Important Takeaways:

  • National rail labor strike possible July 18 unless President Joe Biden intervenes
  • Railroad freight traffic across the United States could come to a screeching halt July 18 if progress isn’t made on a labor contract between national rail carriers and their unions.
  • Union officials stressed they do not want to go on strike, but argued they are being forced to consider the option in a bid to get better benefits, wages and staffing.
  • The two sides were forced into a 30-day “cooling off period” after failing to reach an agreement working through the National Mediation Board. The cooling off period prevents unions from striking or railroads from locking out their workers while they continue to negotiate.
  • That cooling off period ends at midnight on July 18, and a coalition of unions could choose to go on strike at that point, said Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation union president Jeremy Ferguson.

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