Container shipping rates from China to the U.S. continue to soar, climbing above $20,000 per container, compared with just $4,000 a year ago. The rising prices are posing a threat to a global economy already struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The soaring costs, as documented by freight-tracking firm Freightos, along with chronic delays, may lead to an increase in consumer prices.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber told CGTN Europe. “You sometimes see that there was a shortage of capacity in August and September, but it was never as acute as this and never as long as this, with shortages in May and June, which I’ve never seen before.” (Source: newseu.cgtn.com)