ONE Executive: The World's Ports Are Affected! DHL Warns: Supply Chain Pressure Is Huge!

DHL chief executive Tim Scharwath said recently that the reopening of Shanghai could set off a "giant wave" in the supply chain due to weeks of global silence due to the outbreak.

“There is a huge backlog of containers in Shanghai, and there is insufficient capacity around Shanghai Port. Everyone is a little worried that there may be a surge in cargo volume, and to avoid putting huge pressure on the market, it is advisable to gradually lift the lockdown in Shanghai. In the opposite case, you can There will be a lot of difficulties foreseeing, which could affect the other end of the supply chain. Unless lockdowns are gradually lifted, a flood of containers could flood European and North American ports,” said Tim Scharwath.

Meanwhile, Tim Scharwath expects global supply chain issues to continue into next year after the critical Christmas shopping season. That is, the freight market will not normalize until 2023. In 2023, the situation will ease, the sea freight service will get better and better, and the corresponding air freight volume will decrease. That doesn't mean the market looks like it's going back to where it was before 2019, but normalization means services will improve and become more reliable.

In addition, Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Japan Ocean Network (ONE), also said that at present, China and the United States need to hurry up to solve the problems of railway, port and truck driver shortages, because the important ports of the two countries are in the process of Delaying ships in other major ports around the world.

"This year, the global supply chain has been hit hard again by the epidemic, and governments are doing their best to solve this problem, but the labor shortage still exists, and the infrastructure shortage problem still exists, and ONE is putting more ships into service. But the fleet and capacity are limited," Jeremy Nixon said.

At the same time, DVS, which is also an industry giant, also spoke to the media recently. Claus Thomsen, director of DSV Air and Maritime Asia, who has lived in Shanghai for 19 years, said in an interview that for several weeks, about 1,000 DSV employees have been at home. 

DSV has a total of 1,000 employees in Shanghai, of which about 800 work in the air and sea freight sector, and the remaining 200 are in other related departments.

Claus Thomsen, DSV Air and Sea Director for Asia, said over the weekend the long-awaited news that the city may be gradually returning to everyday life. Then things are changing and we are not out of the woods yet. Hopefully good things are happening, and at the moment DSV is trying to keep spirits up with initiatives such as offering yoga classes to employees and entertaining employees' children. On Thursday, a weekly "happy hour" is planned, where employees have the opportunity to talk about things outside of work.

Claus Thomsen admits this is a difficult situation, and while there is good news about the resumption of work and production, it will take some time before a full lockdown is lifted.