One stuck box of fertiliser shows the global supply chain crisis

File pic shows a part of Shanghai port

SINGAPORE: 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 United States. 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 US 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 15,000km trek.