Whether gas, wood, clothes or the semiconductors that are so important for cars and electronic devices: there is currently an unprecedented shortage of goods worldwide. The reasons are the massive increase in demand after the pandemic and the interrupted supply chains on land and sea.
European transport associations are taking the shipping companies to court. They accuse them of taking advantage of the emergency situation and deliberately holding back their ships in order to drive up transport prices even further. Kaspar Engeli (57), Director of Commerce Switzerland, told Blick about the shipping companies: “Some have a price policy like Opec used to do with oil. They play tactical games. “
Prices have increased tenfold
The German Federal Association of Wholesalers, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) is also criticizing. Patrik Marquardt, Head of the Transport and Logistics department, said on request to Blick: “We have seen that the scarce ships and containers are used by shipping companies where the most money is paid. This definitely leads to shifts in routes. ”
The costs per ocean freight container would have increased tenfold compared to the time before the crisis. They would now be between 8,000 and 12,000 US dollars. Marquardt: “Often you can only get transports for so-called priority rates, which are then another 2,000 dollars higher.”
A thorn in the side of the BGA is that the shipping companies benefit from a so-called block exemption regulation, which enables a close cooperation between shipping company consortia in the common use of shipping space and the coordination of trips. Marquardt: “It becomes particularly critical in cases in which the freight costs massively exceed the value of the transported goods or the supplier has to pay the additional costs out of his own pocket.”
KOF boss Jan-Egbert Sturm: That is behind all the delivery bottlenecks(01:14)
Complaint to the EU
The shipping companies’ high price demands are also a political issue. The European shipping association Clecat and the European industry association European Shippers’ Council lodged a complaint with the European Commission at the beginning of the year.
The two associations criticize the fact that an additional fee has to be paid as the price for accepting freight. The complaint also states: “Shippers and forwarders are also confronted with the fact that their transports are postponed when other forwarding companies offer higher freight rates.”
Throttled gas too?
There are also allegations of exploiting the current situation against Russian gas producers who wanted to cut gas deliveries to Europe by up to 50 percent. the “Time” speaks of a “dirty game” in order to put pressure on the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Russia always refused to have reduced its deliveries. On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin (69) even promised to turn the tap on: “If you ask us whether we will increase our deliveries, we will be ready to do that.”
Biden orders work around the clock
In the USA, President Joe Biden (78) is now putting massive pressure on the transporters. He forces her to work around the clock and does not rule out an intervention. “If support at the federal level is required, I will take all appropriate measures,” said Biden. The president promises that the bottlenecks could be eliminated with a “90-day sprint”.
In Switzerland, too, the national economic supply could intervene in an emergency, as it did twice during the lockdown, including lifting the night and Sunday driving ban for trucks. At the moment, however, according to a request from the Department of Economics, Education and Research, nothing is planned.