Global trade slowdown causes South Africa container shortage

The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered global trade in an unprecedented way, with countries across the world imposing trade restrictions in their attempts to contain the spread of the virus, and with production and consumption being scaled back due to the weakened economic activity.

As a result, world trade volumes showed a decrease of nearly 17% in the first five months of 2020, according to the latest data released by the World Trade Monitor of the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB).
"As lockdowns were imposed across the globe following the spread of the Covid-19 virus, it stands to reason that freight was massively disrupted and dislocated. The scale of the disruption, combined with the journey times, means that it will take a long time to get back to normal," William Adams, head of battery materials and base metals research at Fastmarkets, said on Monday August 3.
"Indeed, as measures to halt the spread of Covid-19 are still causing delays at borders and ports, and as ship crews also become infected, shipping is likely to face even more disruptions," he added.

One of the shipping disruptions seen recently has been the container shortage...

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