Supply Chain Research

Container shipping rates from North Asia to the U.K. hit an all time high this month of $10,000 / forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) after rising 285% since the end of November on elevated demand and equipment imbalances. The practice of shipping only empty containers back to Asia to alleviate logistics issues has already led to regulatory scrutiny in the U.S., Vietnam and elsewhere. Rising rates are being noted by industrial firms in their Q4’20 earnings calls, with continued elevated rates a risk to profits in Q1’21. There’s little evidence for cancelled bookings due to those higher cost...