How Did Sea Freight End Up In Such An Expensive Mess In 2021? (feat. Jon Monroe)

2021-07-02

In this episode... Renaud is joined this week by global logistics expert Jon Monroe who boasts over 30 years in the logistics industry and has a strong focus on Transpacific trade who shares detailed information about how the shipping industry works. They discuss the current global shipping crunch (in June/July 2021) that is hitting a lot of importers with both towering costs and long lead times, and explore how we even came to this point while dispelling certain misconceptions. Jon also gives some insight into the situation in the USA specifically, but touches on other areas, such as Europe, too, and talks about...

In this episode...

Renaud is joined this week by global logistics expert Jon Monroe who boasts over 30 years in the logistics industry and has a strong focus on Transpacific trade who shares detailed information about how the shipping industry works. They discuss the current global shipping crunch (in June/July 2021) that is hitting a lot of importers with both towering costs and long lead times, and explore how we even came to this point while dispelling certain misconceptions. Jon also gives some insight into the situation in the USA specifically, but touches on other areas, such as Europe, too, and talks about alternative shipping methods like air freight.

So, if you've been affected by the shipping crunch this year, this episode is for you!

Show Notes

00:49 - Introduction.

01:27 - Jon introduces himself and what he's been up to.

03:18 - What are the factors that led us to be in our current situation?

07:37 - After the surge in demand started, why couldn't shipping companies just add more capacity?

09:25 - Was the surge driven by PPE?

10:26 - The 2 pandemics plaguing us right now: Covid-19 & containers.

12:28 - How and why cargo owners have been negatively affected and face rising costs.

15:32 - The impact of the Shenzhen Yantian YICT port's partial Covid closure in June '21 and carriers bypassing smaller Chinese ports on shipping.

19:21 - Why everyone is booking 4 weeks in advance of the cargo ready date of the factory now.

21:43 - Sky-high ocean line costs are fuelling price rises across the entire industry.

25:06 - How about air freight as an alternative to ocean freight?

27:21 - What impacts of these costs is Jon seeing on businesses?

30:46 - Jon introduces his Chinese team and how he helps companies ship from China.

32:22 - Wrapping up.