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Tag: suez

  • Vietnamese exporters squeezed by Suez blockage

    Vietnamese exporters squeezed by Suez blockage

    The congestion caused by the Suez Canal blockage is delaying the shipment of Vietnamese goods to Europe and the Americas, and the exporters are fretting.

    The owner of a seafood exporting company in the southern province of An Giang is waiting for a five-container ship to pass through the canal on its way to France.

    However, the ongoing congestion will not allow the ship to exit the canal until Friday or Saturday, delaying the shipment by two weeks, exposing the company to fines of 0.3-0.5 percent of the order value.

    This is the first major delivery of the company this year and the owner fears major damage, given the high value of the shipment. He is hoping that the buyer will acknowledge the force majeure circumstance and not impose any fine.

    Many Vietnamese logistics companies are in the same boat after the six-day blockage caused by the mega-ship Ever Given disrupted the global supply chain by jamming the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

    Even though the ship was moved on Monday, Le Duy Hiep, chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Business Association, said most companies were still seeing their shipments delayed.

    Imports from Europe and the Americas to Vietnam are also being put off, he said.

    “Nearly 400 ships, including those from Vietnam, are queued up at the canal. It will take days to clear all the ships, causing damage to both logistics companies and exporters,” he said.

    Europe is one of Vietnam’s biggest seafood export markets with a value of more than $1 billion last year. The resurgence of Covid-19 in some countries there and the Suez blockage is causing major difficulties for Vietnamese exporters.

    Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that Vietnam and many other countries are short of containers for exports and face surging freight rates, and the Suez blockage could make this go even higher.

    Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the export-import department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the blockage is a wake-up call for Vietnamese businesses. He urged them to be more careful and prepare for worst-case scenarios.

    For example, transporting goods by train from Vietnam to Germany costs slightly higher than ships, but takes 15-20 days less, and businesses should consider this an alternative option, he said.

    Businesses should also buy the insurance and think of it as part of their regular expenses instead of taking chances, he added.

  • Suez blockage threatens Vietnam trade with Europe, US

    Suez blockage threatens Vietnam trade with Europe, US

    The Suez Canal blockage caused by the Taiwanese container vessel Ever Given is threatening to delay some of Vietnamese exports and imports.

    The longer it lasts the more losses Vietnamese seafood exporters would suffer since they are the one in charge of shipping seafood to their partners, according to Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

    “Vietnam and many other countries are short of containers for exports and face surging freight rates. The Suez blockage could make freights rise even higher, putting Vietnam’s seafood export firms in difficulty,” he told local media.

    The blockage would temporarily increase Vietnamese exports’ transportation time to the U.S. and Europe by at least one to two weeks since ships have to go around the southern tip of Africa.

    Maersk, a Danish shipping company, said it has three vessels stuck in the canal and 27 others waiting to enter, with two more expected to reach the site on March 28.

    The company has decided not to wait for Ever Given to be extracted and instead redirected its vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10-14 days to their itinerary to U.S. ports.

    “In Vietnam, shipping route TP17 from the Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to the U.S’s east coast, which goes through the Suez Canal, is affected,” a spokesperson for a Vietnamese logistics firm said.

    Multinational electronics companies in Vietnam will be affected if the blockage prolongs since it will delay imports of components.

    Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Agency of Foreign Trade, said the impact of the blockage on Vietnam-Europe trade would depend on the time it takes to dislodge the ship.

    The Ministry of Industry and Trade has instructed Vietnam’s trade office in Egypt to keep it updated on the extrication of the ship.

    On March 23 Ever Given ran aground in one of the world’s busiest waterways. According to the Suez Canal Authority, the ship was unable to keep a straight trajectory due to high winds and a sandstorm that reduced visibility.

    In the morning of March 29, Ever Given was wrenched from the shoreline and set partially afloat again after six days in the ground, according to Inchcape, a British provider of marine services.