[ad_1]
| Suez Canal Stranded Cargo Ship Floats Successfully, Xinhua News Agency Released |
Good news from the Suez Canal!
Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority issued a statement on the 29th that the heavy freighter stranded in the Suez Canal has completely moved into the normal canal. A reporter from the Xinhua news agency saw at the scene that the hull of the freighter had been floating in the river and was heading north. Surrounding freighters honked.
From 23 to 29, this heavy freighter has blocked the Suez Canal for a week. There are currently almost 400 ships waiting to pass on both sides of the canal. As one of the most important shipping channels in the world, the blockade of the Suez Canal has made the global supply chain “like a gorge.” The suspension crisis caused by the grounding and lockdown has left lessons and warnings for issues such as the security of global commercial channels.
The event’s golden waterway is congested and global logistics is blocked
“The ships, the containers, and the cargo are all in the wrong place!” In recent days, professionals from every link in the global supply chain have voiced similar sighs.
A 400 meter long heavy cargo freighter with the Panamanian flag was blocked in the Suez Canal on the 23rd local time, making this busiest canal a blockage in the global economic cycle. This stranded ship is reportedly operated by Evergreen Shipping Group in Taiwan, China. It is called “Chang Ci”, with a length of about 400 meters, a width of about 59 meters and a transport capacity of 224,000 tons. It is the largest container ship in the world.
How painful will the blockade of the Suez Canal cause the world economy? Data shows that in global maritime logistics, about 15% of cargo ships pass through the Suez Canal, and about 1.9 million barrels of oil pass through here every day. The congestion of a “golden waterway” that encompasses approximately 15% of the world’s maritime trade has caused a wide range of chaos: from oil to fuel, from tea to coffee, from toys to toilet paper, from IKEA furniture to French oak, and There are even more than 100,000 head of cattle, and in the last week, all kinds of goods and merchandise can only “rest” in more than 360 blocked ships.
The congestion incident also threatened the normal functioning of individual countries. According to a CNN report, Syria began to implement fuel rationing due to oil supply obstruction to ensure the normal functioning of basic services such as hospitals, water supply and communications. Even the US military said the activities of its warships were affected.
Lars Jensen, CEO of the Danish consultancy “Maritime Intelligence”, said that some 30 heavy cargo ships pass through the Suez Canal every day, and one day of lockdown means 55,000 containers are delayed in delivery. German insurance giant Allianz Group estimates that blocking the Suez Canal could cost world trade between $ 6 billion and $ 10 billion a week.
Due to the high dependence on the Suez Canal shipping channel, the European market has clearly felt the inconvenience caused by the logistics blockage. Many European home furnishings and appliance retailers have reported that products are blocked in the channel, leading to delays in delivery. Once the situation is not alleviated for a long time, it can cause prices to go up.
The world’s largest home furnishings retailer, the Swedish chain IKEA, confirmed that around 110 containers containing IKEA products were transported on the stranded freighter. IKEA spokeswoman Hanna Maud said: “The adverse impact of this incident on our supply chain depends on the progress of the rescue operation and how long it takes.”
Not only is the retail industry “painful”, but so is the manufacturing industry. The international rating agency Moody’s analyzed that because the European manufacturing industry, especially auto parts suppliers, has been seeking “just-in-time inventory management” to maximize capital efficiency and will not store large amounts of raw materials. In this case, once logistics is blocked, production can be interrupted.
Under the impact of the epidemic, the retail and manufacturing industries were originally industries that suffered heavy losses. With the gradual recovery of the economy, these industries have just recovered, especially when consumers have the need to improve their living conditions during the epidemic at home, which has brought “sunlight” to the retail industry, but the Channel lockdown has temporarily made retailers “no rice.”
Affected countries will pay more attention to supply chain “support”
In fact, the impact of the Suez Canal lockdown is more than just the global supply chain lockdown.
The British “Financial Times” noted that even if the Suez Canal can be opened for shipping in the next few days, the destructive impact on the shipping industry will continue for weeks or even months. Once the accumulation of ships passes through the canal, the ports of Asia and Europe will be severely congested. If congestion continues, a large number of cargo ships cannot be reversed, which will inevitably lead to increased shipping rates, increase global trade costs, and trigger chain reactions.
Since the second half of last year, the international shipping market has been affected by factors such as the shortage of containers and the recovery of trade. The transport capacity has already been greatly reduced and the shipping price has remained at a high level. Blocking the Suez Canal is equivalent to “sprinkling salt on the wound” of the shipping market.
Zhang Jun, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Fudan University, believes that currently, due to concerns, expectations are formed about rising prices of raw materials, bulk goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods, and world commodity prices will fluctuate in the short term.
According to the Xinhua news agency, some market participants are concerned that the prices of international crude and other commodities will skyrocket due to the blockade of the Suez Canal. In recent days, international oil prices have risen significantly. Prices for light crude oil futures delivered in May on the New York Mercantile Exchange and London Brent crude futures delivered in May have exceeded $ 60 a barrel.
“This incident may strengthen countries’ emphasis on supply chain security.” Zhang Jun said that the blockade of the Suez Canal is a bit similar to the new corona epidemic and is an unexpected emergency. After the outbreak of the epidemic last year, it has had an impact on the security of the global supply chain, reminding all countries to back up the supply chain and open a “second source” or “second. channel”. Now another major trade channel is suddenly “jammed” by a giant ship, which may strengthen the idea of countries seeking the second and third channels in the supply chain.
In fact, some alternative options have emerged. Russia proposed the Arctic route. Russia said it was the shortest sea route connecting Europe and Asia. It only takes about 30 days, which is 10 days less than the Suez Canal. Iran proposes to open a north-south trade corridor through Iran to connect India with Russia.
However, the state of the Suez Canal is difficult to replace in the short term. In terms of global shipping channels, the Suez Canal capacity remains one of the few. In 2020, under the epidemic situation, almost 20,000 ships will continue to pass through the Suez Canal, which is equivalent to an average of 50 ships per day, and most of them are huge ships. After the Suez Canal was blocked, management once stated that cargo ships can choose to wait or divert the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa. However, currently no ship chooses to deviate. While the wait comes at a cost, touring the Cape of Good Hope means paying for several weeks of additional travel and associated costs. This highlights the importance of the Suez Canal for global shipping.
Some experts said the blockade of the channel caused a lack of logistics, which may cause the manufacturing industry to change the current raw material inventory system and increase “inventory” to prevent similar situations from happening again. Transportation delays caused by the canal blockade will also generate a large number of insurance claims, putting enormous pressure on financial institutions engaged in marine insurance, or causing turbulence in areas such as reinsurance.
Warns that the “throat” of world trade needs the cooperation of all countries
The blockade of the Suez Canal this time has brought great lessons and warnings to the world.
David Dudwell, executive director of the Hong Kong APEC Trade Policy Research Group, noted that the disruption to trade may only be temporary, but the blockade of the Suez Canal highlights the “throat” of global trade and the fragility of trade. global and its long and complex supply chain. The Suez Canal is just one of 14 “gorges” that are vital to the world’s supply of food, oil and food. Due to the frequent occurrence of accidents on major trade routes, there is an urgent need to reduce and manage risks through international cooperation in the future.
According to research by the Chatham Institute, since 2010, the Suez Canal has been blocked 8 times, of which at least 4 times have been stranded due to ships being pulled from the canal by strong winds and sandstorms; the Panama Canal has suffered 5 accidents. and temporary locks. Since 2013, there have been 6 accidents and temporary blockages in the Turkish Strait.
Li Shaoxian, dean of the Chinese Academy of Arab States at Ningxia University, said a heavy cargo ship could paralyze the Suez Canal, highlighting the fragility of this important trade channel. If it is a man-made destruction or a terrorist attack, it is supposed to even damage the world economy. The geopolitics of the Middle East has a huge impact. Therefore, the blockade of the Suez Canal also reflects the existence of similar hidden dangers in key waterways of the world, such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Malacca and the Panama Canal, which should be watched.
This incident also gave world trade a “reminder” not to rely too heavily on shipping, not to “put eggs in the same basket” and promote the construction of land logistics systems such as China-Europe Express. Affected by this incident, some national international logistics service platforms have recently received inquiries about China-Europe freight trains, which have previously doubled the number.
(Xinhua Comprehensive News Agency, CCTV, Shangguan News, compiled by Zhao Peng)Return to Sohu to see more
Editor:
Disclaimer: The opinions in this article only represent the author himself. Sohu is an information publishing platform. Sohu only provides storage space services.
[ad_2]