Container
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Timber supply still good but further price reduction in the UK
Timber availability in the UK is currently described as good with further reductions in prices due to the large amount of stock already in the UK and reduced shipping costs. Co-chairs of the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability working group John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, said birch plywood remains an issue due to sanctions on premier birch ply sourcing country Russia. “With limited supplies available from Latvia and Finland, we advise speaking to plywood suppliers regarding alternatives,” they said. The working group has described overall product availability as “good and returning to pre-Covid levels”, while some bricks, blocks, plasterboard and roofing products are occasionally still subject to disruption or allocation. Despite this, lead times for these... Continue reading
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January 1, 2023
Timber supply still good but further price reduction in the UK
Timber availability in the UK is currently described as good with further reductions in prices due to the large amount of stock already in the UK and reduced shipping costs. Co-chairs of the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability working group John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, said birch plywood remains an issue due to sanctions on premier birch ply sourcing country Russia. “With limited supplies available from Latvia and Finland, we advise speaking to plywood suppliers regarding alternatives,” they said. The working group has described overall product availability as “good and returning to pre-Covid levels”, while some bricks, blocks, plasterboard and roofing products are occasionally still subject to disruption or allocation. Despite this, lead times for these... Continue reading
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December 13, 2022
Global container freight rates falling sharply
For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease. Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall. Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal." "The backlogs of ships along European coasts have been overcome," he told DW, adding that shipping capacity wasn't so tight anymore as at the end of last year. Another piece of good news, he said, was that ocean freight rates are falling significantly. "Shipping conditions are similar to what they were before the pandemic." German business daily Handelsblatt has... Continue reading
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December 13, 2022
Global container freight rates falling sharply
For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease. Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall. Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal." "The backlogs of ships along European coasts have been overcome," he told DW, adding that shipping capacity wasn't so tight anymore as at the end of last year. Another piece of good news, he said, was that ocean freight rates are falling significantly. "Shipping conditions are similar to what they were before the pandemic." German business daily Handelsblatt has... Continue reading
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April 21, 2022
China: Cargo backlogs in Shanghai could cause next supply chain shockwave
Concern is growing that the spread of COVID cases and city lockdowns in China will have massive downstream effects for global supply chains that could dwarf previous disruptions since the start of the pandemic. Last May, the huge Yantian container terminal at the Port of Shenzhen throttled down to 30% of normal productivity for a month to stamp out a handful of positive cases there. Hundreds of thousands of shipments that couldn’t enter the port accumulated in factories and warehouses, and many vessels skipped the port to avoid waiting seven days or more at anchor. It took weeks after the port reopened to clear the cargo backlog. The effects cascaded to the U.S. and Europe, resulting in port traffic jams, transit times triple the norm and missed retail deliveries for the holidays. The difference this time is that an entire metropolis — and highly interconnected global trade... Continue reading
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December 13, 2022
Global container freight rates falling sharply
For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease. Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall. Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal." "The backlogs of ships along European coasts have been overcome," he told DW, adding that shipping capacity wasn't so tight anymore as at the end of last year. Another piece of good news, he said, was that ocean freight rates are falling significantly. "Shipping conditions are similar to what they were before the pandemic." German business daily Handelsblatt has... Continue reading
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December 13, 2022
Global container freight rates falling sharply
For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease. Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall. Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal." "The backlogs of ships along European coasts have been overcome," he told DW, adding that shipping capacity wasn't so tight anymore as at the end of last year. Another piece of good news, he said, was that ocean freight rates are falling significantly. "Shipping conditions are similar to what they were before the pandemic." German business daily Handelsblatt has... Continue reading
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December 13, 2022
Global container freight rates falling sharply
For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease. Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall. Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal." "The backlogs of ships along European coasts have been overcome," he told DW, adding that shipping capacity wasn't so tight anymore as at the end of last year. Another piece of good news, he said, was that ocean freight rates are falling significantly. "Shipping conditions are similar to what they were before the pandemic." German business daily Handelsblatt has... Continue reading
-
December 13, 2022
Global container freight rates falling sharply
For more than two years the only way for container shipping prices was up. That trend is now reversing as backlogs at ports dissolve and supply chain snarls ease. Freight rates drop to prepandemic levels In Germany, the shipping chaos has been brought under control also because of a bargaining deal struck between dock workers and port authorities that ended a disruptive strike this fall. Martin Kröger, chief executive of the German Shipowners' Association (VDR), says the situation has eased "almost back to normal." "The backlogs of ships along European coasts have been overcome," he told DW, adding that shipping capacity wasn't so tight anymore as at the end of last year. Another piece of good news, he said, was that ocean freight rates are falling significantly. "Shipping conditions are similar to what they were before the pandemic." German business daily Handelsblatt has... Continue reading
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January 1, 2023
Timber supply still good but further price reduction in the UK
Timber availability in the UK is currently described as good with further reductions in prices due to the large amount of stock already in the UK and reduced shipping costs. Co-chairs of the Construction Leadership Council’s Product Availability working group John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchants Federation and Peter Caplehorn, CEO of the Construction Products Association, said birch plywood remains an issue due to sanctions on premier birch ply sourcing country Russia. “With limited supplies available from Latvia and Finland, we advise speaking to plywood suppliers regarding alternatives,” they said. The working group has described overall product availability as “good and returning to pre-Covid levels”, while some bricks, blocks, plasterboard and roofing products are occasionally still subject to disruption or allocation. Despite this, lead times for these... Continue reading