The global shipping industry is experiencing a situation of "ice and fire": the epidemic situation in many overseas countries is severe, labor shortages, and port containers are piled up like a mountain; major ports in Asia are busy with traffic, but they are often troubled by "lack of containers" and "fewer containers", and container prices are soaring , Some shipping routes have increased by nearly 10 times, still "a box is hard to find."

Since the second half of last year, container freight rates on most routes around the world have been rising. Major ports in Asia represented by China have been busy with heavy traffic. Because of the “lack of containers” and “fewer containers,” container prices have soared. Some shipping routes have risen by nearly 10%. Even so, it is still "difficult to find a box". There are still many cargo companies who line up early to book space and increase prices to grab space. According to data from the Drewry World Container Index on May 8, the freight rate for a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam rose to US$10,174, an increase of 3.1% over the previous week and an increase of 485% over the same period last year. The composite index of the eight major routes rose 2% from the previous week to US$6,257, an increase of 293% from the same period last year. Both indexes reached their highest levels since 2011.

The explosion of freight has brought about a surge in containers. In the first half of 2020, the price of a 20-foot container was US$1,600, and now it has risen to US$3,600. The price of the popular 40-foot container has risen to US$5,950. And hit a record high. Judging from historical data, containers have never had such a high price.

In fact, this situation is more important than the failure of containers shipped overseas, in addition to cabin explosion, price increases, delays in shipping schedules, and container dumping. Therefore, the senior student of Si Xue believes that in the face of the current situation, the situation that the container cannot be returned should continue for some time, which means that the transportation and price of the container still have not reached the ceiling and will still rise.

In addition, the current demand for tires in the replacement market in the United States continues to exceed supply and has also contributed to the continued increase in tire prices. In 2021, many tire companies have announced multiple tire price increases, and many companies have increased by more than 5% in a single time. Although many brands claim that the price of tires is rising because of the increase in raw material prices, the rapid increase in demand is actually one of the reasons for the increase in tire prices in the United States.

In addition, the shortage of tire raw materials and the "steel panic" also made many American companies unable to meet the domestic tire market demand. This also explains why in the tide of price hikes, merchandise orders have never been reduced, and many brands’ out-of-stock orders are rapidly increasing. At present, many dealers are stepping up to find tire sources in order to supply replacement market demand. The shortfall in supply has directly led to the "price increase chaos" in the domestic tire market in the United States.

"Double reverse" tax rate increases tire price rising sentiment

On May 24, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued the final tariff rates for tire imports from the four Asian regions. This time the "double reverse" has caused many domestic tire companies to complain. After all, as long as they are imported from sanctioned places Tires have to pay high tariffs.

Among them, South Korea's anti-dumping rate (from 14.72% to 27.05%) is similar to Thailand's tire manufacturers (from 14.62% to 21.09%) and Vietnam's 22.27%. But for Vietnamese tire manufacturers, this number is even more serious, ranging from 20.04% to 101.84%. In addition, a single-digit countervailing duty is imposed on tires from Vietnam, while in other regions, only anti-dumping duties are at work. And many local companies in the United States have tire orders (OEM business) from these regions, and they also have to pay high tariffs.