Shipment delays for China to Europe routes soar as Omicron disruption anticipated to continue
Shipment delays on China to Europe routes skyrocketed last year, with concerns that supply chain challenges could continue well into 2022.
Data from supply chain visibility platform project44 found that delays on these key routes increased to 1.65 days in 2021, up 172 per cent compared to 2020.
What’s more, the average 2021 shipment delays from China to US West Coast ports increased by 114 per cent to 2.46 day, compared to the same period in 2020.
“As shippers rushed to meet the ballooning demand for consumer goods throughout 2021, everything from vessel capacity, warehouse space, driver capacity, to dock space buckled under the shift to a more Just-in-Case supply chain strategy,” the firm explained.
The organisation acknowledged there had been “marginal improvements have been made in both rates and on-time performance on some trade lanes.”
However, the Omicron variant’s presence in China was anticipated to hit manufacturing in the coming months, according to project44.
It comes as Apple’s largest iPhone factory in central China has attempted to lure workers back to the production line with bonuses worth the equivalent of £1,100.39.
The recruitment drive has occurred as travel to the city of Zhengzhou has been disrupted amid a local Omicron outbreak in the area.
China’s economy is growing at the slowest pace in a year and a half as it battles a real estate downturn and surge in coronavirus cases, CityA.M. reported earlier this week.
Gross domestic product (GDP) jumped four per cent over the three months to December compared to the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said.