Too many boxes in British ports
Post-Brexit trade disruption and ongoing congestion are causing critical build-ups of containers at UK ports, according to data from Container X Change, an online platform for buying, selling and leasing shipping containers.
“The UK’s major gateways for box traffic suffered congestion for much of 2020, prompting carriers to cut some calls, and instead ship cargo in from European hubs via the Channel Tunnel; ferry services; and feeder services,” said Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO of Container X Change. “We’re now seeing critical levels of boxes building up at Southampton and Felixstowe.”
Efforts by container lines to avoid Brexit disruption and delays at southern terminals by launching new services to the port of Liverpool are now also coming unstuck, with the latter struggling to handle increased volumes. This is reflected in an accelerating excess of containers in the port.
In contrast, critical shortages in the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg in 2020 improved to a more balanced start in 2021. (cd)
www.container-xchange.com