One stuck box of fertiliser shows global supply chain crisis

With demand for vessels and containers rising this year and companies ramping up exports to Europe and the United States for the year-end holiday shopping season, even a limited closure of part of a port is costly for both shoppers and shippers. Even though the Meishan terminal was only shut for a few weeks, it will likely take a while for the congestion to ease.(File pic shows Shanghai Port)

SHANGHAI: Somewhere in the world’s busiest port of Shanghai, a container of fertiliser sits among tens of thousands of boxes, waiting for a ride to the U.S. It’s been on the dock for months, trapped by typhoons and Covid outbreaks that have worsened major congestion in the global supply-chain network.

While the fertiliser has been stranded there since May, the port is just one stop on the long journey from central China to the U.S. Midwest. Delays have stretched a delivery that ordinarily would take weeks to more than half a year. And that time frame will keep expanding, as the goods have barely started the roughly 15,000 kilometer (9,300 mile) trek.