Christmas Shortages: Port Congestion Means Start Shopping Early

Christmas shortages are set to worsen as congestion at UK ports mounts.

The  UK’s busiest container port, Felixstowe, is still mired in shipping delays, despite some reports that had indicated the situation was improving, threatening to ignite panic buying for Christmas presents.

Now the problems are spreading, which suggests that attempts to by-pass congestion at Felixstowe has merely added to already existing issues at other major UK ports.

Rod McKenzie, managing director of policy and public affairs at the Road Haulage Association, said there was now an “unmanageable glut of containers”.

London Gateway, Tilbury and Southampton are the latest container ports to report lengthening queues of ships waiting for a berth, longer delays getting containers off ships, and a lack of storage space and the drivers to get the containers to their final warehouse destinations.

Christmas supplies will be affected as ships diverted from UK ports

Maersk and other shipping companies had started diverting ships from Felixstowe because of the delays, preferring in some cases to take loads to non-UK ports where the loads can be divided and put onto smaller ships before onward delivery.

The congestion and delays facing UK ports are matched elsewhere in the world but are thought to be exacerbated in the UK by a lack of drivers that is more severe than elsewhere. The HGV driver shortage has already led to a fuel crisis as deliveries to petrol stations were affected, worsened by panic buying.

As a result of the supply disruptions at UK ports, logistics firms are saying it is a running certainty that Christmas deliveries will be affected. Toys and furniture are two types of goods that will be most subject to shortages.

Buy early? Confusion over extent of supply delays and how to fix them

But the reports from shipping companies and port operators are at variance, with the former complaining of delays while some port operators are denying waiting times were any worse than normal.

Also, while government minister Oliver Dowden has urged consumers to “buy as you do normally” and not to order in advance, logistics firms are advising otherwise.

A director at freight handler Davis Turner, Alan Williams, has told consumers “the big message is that people need to shop early”.

Gary Grant of independent toy dealer The Entertainer, told the BBC that his company had 30 containers stuck at Felixstowe due to the lack of HGV drivers to get them to the warehouses.

Christmas shortages: Demand may soon “outstrip availability” says toy dealer

Grant said that although shops might look “very full right now” that was unlikely to last and demand “would outstrip availability”. Top of his list of toys to run out first are Barbie dolls and Paw Patrol.

Playstation 5 gaming consoles have already run out, with no stock at Amazon, Argos, Game and AO.com.

Some independent retailers and sellers are increasing prices on items in short supply, with the Playstation 5, which has a recommended retail sticker price of £449, being sold for as much as £1,249 on Amazon Marketplace.

Other reports say that a million of the popular Elf on the Shelf toy figures are stuck quayside in China, as the worldwide supply chain problems begin to multiply.

Chancellor Sunak: government “can’t fix every problem”

Meanwhile, the UK chancellor Rishi Sunak says the government is doing everything possible to alleviate delays, but blamed global factors for the supply bottlenecks, adding that the government “couldn’t fix every problem”, which is probably not what the average six year old wants to hear .

Speaking from a G7 meeting in Washington DC, Sunak said of the shipping delays: “They are global in nature, so we can’t fix every single problem, but I feel there’ll be a good provision of goods for everybody and we are working out ways to remove blockages where we can.”

Chicken prices set to rise 10% says poultry industry

These latest manifestations of the supply chains problems come on top of the threat to food supplies dues to labour shortages.

Today poultry industry representatives told the BBC that the price of chickens could rise 10%.

In addition to the labour shortages, the costs of packaging, CO2 and energy were also inflating production costs for food, according to chief executive of 2 Sisters Food Group, Ronald Kers.

Dont’ wait for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Shopping experts are advising savvy shoppers not to wait for Black Friday (26 November) or Cyber Monday (29 November) to start shopping, as by then it may be too late to get your hands on the most in-demand goods.