Sean Van Dort feels “duped” by shipping companies. This Sri Lankan businessman, whose job as a shipper consists of transporting goods on behalf of his exporting or importing clients, accuses them of having artificially favored an increase in their tariffs to inflate their profits, strangling in the process hundreds of small businesses across the country. “The price of transporting the container to Europe suddenly went from 900 dollars [environ 850 euros] at $9,000 during the pandemic. How can small exporters survive such a rise? »is indignant Mr. Van Dort.
In the eighteen months since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, port congestion, factory closures, container shortages and the imbalance between supply and demand have fueled a skyrocketing sea freight prices. The clothing sector in Sri Lanka, which depends on imports of raw materials and exports to European countries, was particularly affected by this increase. “Small businesses are suffocated by tariffs and they have difficulty finding space, as they fall behind large customers, continues Mr. Van Dort. Shipping companies dictate their laws, they have become too powerful. »
The rise in prices “may pose problems for low-income countries that trade in bulky goods, the value of which is not very high”, recognizes Jean-François Arvis, an economist at the World Bank, who says “Look at these issues closely, because they are a source of concern”. Not only can skyrocketing prices ruin their competitiveness, which is largely based on low costs, but the goods must also be able to be shipped.
Away from major roads
However, the decrease in the number of stopovers, observed since the start of the pandemic, risks excluding them from global supply chains. According to calculations by the specialized firm MDS Transmodal, sub-Saharan Africa is the region that lost the most maritime connections in the world (− 8.4%) between the end of 2019 and the end of 2021, which translated into a loss of 7.9% of transport capacity.
“During the pandemic, ships canceled at the last moment their calls in ports where the volume of containers to be unloaded was low, so as not to waste time, explains Antonella Teodoro, senior consultant at the British firm MDS Transmodal. In the new reconfigurations of these maritime lines, these stopovers have disappeared with catastrophic consequences on local economies. » Because maritime transport alone provides 80% of world trade.
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