The increasing price of shipping goods across the world may affect your household expenses from a cup of coffee each morning to children’s toys.
Shipping a 12m steel container of cargo by sea from Shanghai to Rotterdam now costs a record of US$10,522 which is 547 per cent higher than the seasonal average over the last five years, according to a Shipping consultancy.
Over 80 per cent of all goods trade is transported by sea, so freight cost inscreases are threatening to boost the price of everything from toys, furniture and car parts to coffee, sugar and anchovies, compounding concerns in global markets already bracing themselves for increasing inflation.