Delays in container shipments from Asia increased in the first quarter. Shipping data released by supply chain platform company E2open shows that in the first quarter of 2022, the total time from booking to receipt for global shipping will be the same as in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Take a company as an example. In April this year, after booking space with liner operators, it took an average of 73 days to complete the shipping process of goods, which was 9 days longer than the average of last year. It should be pointed out that one-third of the additional time from booking to customs clearance at the destination port is due to delays at the origin port, while delays due to supply chain congestion account for 44%.
While the global average on-time ship was unchanged from the previous quarter, there were more delays on outbound routes. Among them, the Asia to North America route, the transit time increased from 77 days in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 80 days. Despite a slight drop in bookings, transit times have increased by five days since last quarter as ships continue to wait longer for berths, E2open said. While transit times on the Asia to Europe route decreased by 2 days to 79 days, it was still a fifth of the time compared to the same period in 2021. Actual shipping days from Asia and Europe to North America have increased by 5 and 4 days, respectively, since last quarter.
Currently, the biggest impact on the transportation market is the cost of fuel, which directly affects the economics of ocean transportation and indirectly pushes up global commodity prices.
