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Workers at UK’s Biggest Container Port to Begin 8-day Strike

admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 11:26:43 +0000

Workers at UK’s Biggest Container Port to Begin 8-day Strike

More than 1,900 workers at Britain’s biggest container port are due on Sunday to start eight days of strike action which their union and shipping companies warn could seriously affect trade and supply chains.

The staff at Felixstowe, on the east coast of England, are taking industrial action in a dispute over pay, becoming the latest workers to strike in Britain as unions demand higher wages for members facing a cost-of-living crisis.

“Strike action will cause huge disruption and will generate massive shockwaves throughout the UK’s supply chain, but this dispute is entirely of the company’s own making,” said Bobby Morton, the Unite union’s national officer for docks.

“It [the company] has had every opportunity make our members a fair offer but has chosen not to do so.”

On Friday, Felixstowe’s operator Hutchison Ports said it believed its offer of a 7% pay rise and a lump sum of 500 pounds ($604) was fair. It said the port’s workers union, which represents about 500 staff in supervisory, engineering and clerical roles, had accepted the deal.

Unite, which represents mainly dock workers, says the proposal is significantly below the current inflation rate, and followed a below inflation increase last year.

“The port regrets the impact this action will have on UK supply chains,” a Hutchison Ports spokesperson said.

The port said it would have a contingency plan in place, and was working to minimise disruption during the walkouts which will last until Aug. 29.

Shipping group Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), one of the world’s biggest container shippers, has warned the action would have a significant impact, causing operational delays and forcing it to make changes to its vessel line-up.

Figures released on Aug. 17 showed Britain’s consumer price inflation hit 10.1% in July, the highest since February 1982, and some economists forecast it will hit 15% in the first three months of next year amid surging energy and food costs.

The squeeze on household incomes has already led to strikes by the likes of rail and bus workers demanding higher pay rises.

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Shipping Rate Surge Threatens Global Economy Recovery, UNCTAD Says

admin — Sun, 21 Nov 2021 18:40:58 +0000

A surge in container shipping rates poses a threat to the global economic recovery, with small countries dependent on deliveries by sea expected to be hardest hit by a spike in import prices, U.N. agency UNCTAD said on Thursday.

A surge in demand for consumer goods during the pandemic has created major supply bottlenecks around the world, which has impacted the supply of container ships and boxes to transport cargo.

Shipping and port officials expect global supply chain disruptions to extend into 2022.

“The current surge in freight rates will have a profound impact on trade and undermine socioeconomic recovery, especially in developing countries, until maritime shipping operations return to normal,” said UNCTAD Secretary General Rebeca Grynspan.

In its Review of Maritime Transport for 2021, UNCTAD said that the current surge in container freight rates, if sustained, could increase global import price levels by 11% and consumer price levels by 1.5% between now and 2023.

“The impact is expected to be more significant for smaller economies that depend heavily on imported goods for much of their consumption needs,” it said.

UNCTAD said maritime supply chain stakeholders including container lines, ports, inland transport providers, customs and shippers “should work together to share information and make maritime transport more efficient”.

“In the face of these cost pressures and lasting market disruption, it is increasingly important to monitor market behavior and ensure transparency when it comes to setting rates, fees and surcharges,” it said.

Source: www.marinelink.com

Image: www.pexel.com

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South Korea container ports report Q1 volumes up

admin — Fri, 21 May 2021 13:55:22 +0000

The volume of container cargo processed at South Korea’s seaports rose 1.3 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2021, according to the country’s Ministry of Oceans.

Container cargo processed at the seaports reached 7.29 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in the January-March period, rising from the previous year’s 7.19 TEUs.

Processed export-import cargo jumped 4.5 percent on-year to reach 4.24 million TEUs in the first quarter, the increase was attributed to the growth in trade with China and Canada.

South Korea said it expects the amount of container cargo processed at seaports to continue to rise down the road in line with the global vaccine inoculation program, coupled with economic stimulus measures by major economies.

Image from www.pexels.com

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