April update
According to a March survey conducted by the Institute for Supply Chain Management, nearly 75% of companies reported supply chain disruptions due to coronavirus-related transportation restrictions, and this figure is expected to rise further over the next few weeks. Despite this, our production facilities remain open and we have been able to deliver stocks to customers with minimum disruption.
As a business contingency measure, we recommend increasing your inventory during this period to avoid any stock outages. At the time of writing, here is a summary of the impact on freight routes. Kindly note that since this a very fluid situation, costs and lead-times may fluctuate depending on developments.
Air freight
- As available capacity has dropped by a third compared to last year, airline prices have risen by 60-80% with services offered on a case-by-case basis.
- Certain airlines are operating their passenger flights to carry cargo due to the limited availability of cargo space.
Sea freight
- Freight prices continue to rise from standard rates since the end of February with charges now 20-40% higher this month compared to 15-20% during March.
- Transit lead-times are expected to increase by 3-4 weeks due to vessel arrival and departure delays.
Land freight
- Although delays of 4-5 days are expected due to longer customs processing and route changes caused by border closures, pricing remains unaffected to date.
For more information, please get in touch with your account manager.
