The Port of Hamina-Kotka, Finland's largest export port, has encountered difficulties in obtaining empty containers because they are stuck in China.
Chinese ports stopped to work because of coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish). And many container ships off the Chinese coast have failed to dock in China. For that reason, the containers have not been emptied and this is turning into a big problem.
Kimmo Naski, Managing Director of the Port of Hamina-Kotka talked to the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) and he said “possibly as much as half of Europe's ships to China do not leave at all.”
Traffic volumes from the Port of Helsinki are also expected to decrease. However, it is not possible to say how much.
“The containers in the Hamina-Kotka harbor have been sufficient for the time being, but the situation is getting worse day by day. There are mountains of empty containers in China, but they can't be found here. Due to the long distance between Europe and Asia, the delay is many weeks,” said Naski.
In shipping companies, short-term contracts and various supplements are under pressure, both in terms of prices and the availability of containers, and whether there is enough space on board.
Heikki Palin, CEO of Palin Granit in Lappeenranta talked to Yrittajat and said “the freight rates to China have nearly doubled since the outbreak of the coronavirus.”
According to Ilta-Sanomat, Leo Vapalahti, CEO of Hapag Lloyd Finland said “container balance (the ratio of empty to full containers across continents) has become tighter and there is a clear shortage of containers in Europe. Due to fleet and ship capacity, we will sell to customers in late May. These are the closest departures we can take to.”
The problems of Finnish companies, especially the smaller ones, can get worse faster if they do not get the goods to customers at a reasonable rate or at a high additional cost.
Exports of goods from Finland to China are also decreasing because China does not buy the goods.
First the strikes, now coronavirus
Early in the year, forest industry strikes hurt the harbor operations. As the flow of goods began again after the strikes, the effects of the coronavirus became even more apparent.
According to The Journal of Commerce, China's factory closures and the collapse of export and container demand have triggered a domino effect, which is now moving in many directions, including rising prices and freezing containers in Chinese ports.
“Now the first effects are visible. How bad it really becomes remains to be seen. In any case, this spring is going to be catastrophic,” Naski said.
