News Agricultural export
Consequences of Suez blockade for export unclear
The ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal on Tuesday (March 23) is causing major problems in international transport. About 150 ships are waiting on both sides of the canal until the passage is clear again. Ships can circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope, but that takes about a week extra travel time.
Due to the corona crisis, the capacity of shipping between Europe and Asia was already under pressure. This has led to container shortages and longer transport times, among other things. The world's largest container shipping company Maersk reported yesterday that it has 4 ships that are in the channel and are now unable to continue. Three other ships of the shipping company are waiting at the entrance of the Suez Canal.
Blockade may take a while
"The blockade of the Suez Canal could take several days to weeks," Peter Berdowski, director of Boskalis, told Nieuwsuur. Subsidiary Smit Salvage is involved in refloating the stranded ship. "The first thing you do is calculate. But you quickly come to the conclusion that pulling loose is not really possible. That has been proven." According to Berdowski, ballast water and fuel oil can be removed from the ship to lose as much weight as possible. Containers can also be removed from the ship and dredging can take place.
About 12% of world trade passes through the canal. About 30% of the world's available container stock passes through the Suez Canal. Large quantities of oil and LNG from the Middle East are also transported through the canal. Damage from the blockade is estimated by experts at $9,6 per day based on Lloyd's List data.
Transport between Europe, Asia and large parts of the Middle East is in any case delayed. It is currently difficult to estimate what the long-term consequences will be and what the consequences will be for world trade. That is very dependent on when the channel opens again. In a few days the damage is not too bad. If it takes longer, it will certainly have negative consequences for the availability and price of (container) transport. That hurts world trade.
Consequences of onion and potato exports limited
The consequences for the export of onions are expected to remain limited. Major export destinations in West Africa are not affected by the current blockade. The same applies to potato exports. Asia is not a big sales area. This is different for the export of French fries. Asia and the Middle East are also important destinations. A short interruption is not immediately a problem, as shipping companies/exporters are also used to it. If the problems on the Suez Canal persist for weeks, the imbalance that already exists on the container market could be further aggravated.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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