The new stage of economic bonanza, a consequence of the rise in the prices of mineral and agricultural commodities, created turmoil in the worldwide flow of cargo ships. Ships and containers are lacking, there is congestion on the routes and sea freight prices soared.
The average increase was 93% in the last 3 months, informed 90 large Brazilian exporting companies to Talura, which specializes in freight. But there are cases in which the amount charged for international transport has simply tripled, found Arthur Lee, responsible for the Development and Marketing section, when analyzing the results.
The difficulty to ship goods has been growing since March for seven out of ten companies consulted. More than half (57.3%) reported having lost sales contracts abroad because of this.
At the origin of the losses, the companies highlighted the high cost of the storage and transport operation (40%) and the increase in the time for the cargo to reach its destination (30%).
The difficulties are multiplied for Brazilian exporters because there are few available ports and the concentration in Santos is very high, where almost half of the cargo for transport abroad converges. In Brazil, port costs are well above the world average, but shipping through Santos turns out to be relatively cheaper among national ports.
All predictions are that this turmoil in international maritime trade will continue at least until next year. With the cost of freight on the rise.
Source: Veja