Idle containers leave global supply chains fractured

Singapore

THE global trade imbalance due to Covid-19 has resulted in a mismatch between where sea containers are and where they need to be, causing supply-chain bottlenecks that have spread to Asia and may, at best, start to improve only by the second half of this year.

Container availability across China, the world's factory and a major exporter, is at a record low. In contrast, major ports in the US are overwhelmed by a surge of shipping containers from Asia, but unable to fill the empty containers and have them shipped back to Asia on time.