Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The global supply chain is facing new disruptions from drought and war.
A severe drought is causing shipping delays at the Panama Canal, one of the world's main maritime trade routes, and adding to congestion at the Suez Canal, another major trade route, with some shipping companies paying a premium to jump to the front of the growing queue.
Low water levels in the Panama canal system meant fewer ships were able to transit through, causing delays on both sides of the waterway, with some ships waiting 20 days to cross and having to unload cargo to meet weight restrictions.
In addition, three commercial vessels came under attack in the international waters of the Red Sea, over the past weekend, further elevating the risk to global shipping, as well as causing global inflation expectations to rise.
Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation chief executive Sherelle Kennelly said the local industry was concerned about the resurgence of global shipping disruptions, but was yet to be directly affected.
Some shipping companies were redirecting their fleets to the Suez Canal as the Panama crossing became more unreliable, and charging users a surcharge for the longer journey.
The Panama Canal typically handled 36 ships a day, but had been gradually reducing the number to a target 18 ships a day by February.
"We have concerns about the Suez Canal in regards of congestion and causing further delays," Kennelly said.
"Rerouting would obviously turn into longer transit times and higher costs for forwarders and ultimately New Zealand receivers and they will no doubt be additional surcharges coming in.
"Yet there's nothing confirmed at this stage."
Closer to home, Australia's port operations were disrupted last month by a cyber-attack, delaying the dispatch of key exports.
