[World Issue] Global logistics crisis, supply chain crisis, high inflation phenomenon

ⓒ Reuters_News 1

 Will the US-British Houthi rebels' airstrikes cause a global logistics crisis?

*Source_Financial News

As the U.S. and British forces launched a surprise airstrike to stop Houthi rebels who attacked civilian ships one after another in the Red Sea, concerns are growing that the Red Sea, an important route for global logistics, could be blocked, leading to a global logistics crisis.

  ◇ U.S.-British surprise airstrikes against Houthi rebels: On the 11th (local time), Reuters, citing four U.S. officials who requested anonymity, reported that the two countries began targeted airstrikes against targets linked to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It is reported that this air strike operation was led by the British Air Force. Previously, the British daily 'The Times' exclusively reported that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak approved airstrikes against Houthi rebels that day. The reason the U.S. and the U.K. took out the air strike card was because international trade was being disrupted by Houthi rebels' attacks on civilian ships. The Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, declared their support for Hamas in the Israel-Hamas war that broke out in October last year and have fired missiles at Israel several times. Since November, they have been expanding their attacks on civilian ships passing through the Red Sea. .

  The Red Sea, located between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is a major trade route connecting the Indian Ocean and Egypt's Suez Canal, accounting for 30% of the world's maritime container traffic and 12% of the merchandise trade volume. If the dispute prolongs on this important road, the possibility of a global logistics crisis cannot be ruled out. Some shipping companies have already changed their routes to much longer routes via the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, paying more.

  ◇ Tesla German factory closed for two weeks: In the case of Tesla, its German factory was temporarily closed. Tesla announced today that it will suspend production at its Berlin, Germany factory for two weeks. Tesla's supply chain was disrupted as it transited through Africa's Cape of Good Hope due to a ship attack in the Red Sea. A potential weakness for all automakers is that they rely too heavily on Asia, especially China, for key components. In Tesla's case, battery parts have to be transported to Europe via the Red Sea. As a result, the risk of production disruption is higher.

  ◇ Musk CEO warns of logistics crisis: In this situation, Vincent Clerk Maersk, CEO of Maersk, the world's largest shipping company, warned that the Red Sea incident could lead to a global logistics crisis. ‘Musk has already changed the route’ and warned that ‘a global logistics chaos could occur as it is unclear whether Red Sea trade will resume in the coming days, weeks or months.’ If you bypass the Cape of Good Hope, not only does the freight cost more, but the transportation time also takes 2 to 4 weeks longer.

  ◇ International oil prices soar by more than 2%: Due to these concerns, international oil prices are soaring by more than 2% on this day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures are rising more than 2% in Asian trading after recording $73.75 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 2.40% from the previous trading day.

     

*Photo_Reuters

'Drone missile attack' Red Sea waterway 'fear'... Growing concerns over logistics crisis

*Source_Korea Economy

Container ship freight rates have doubled over the past two months as Yemen's Houthi rebels increasingly attack merchant ships in the Red Sea.

• 26 attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea over two months... Importers suffer as freight rates double
• Last month, the number of container ships crossing the Red Sea decreased by 20%.
• Fuel and insurance premiums soar after detouring to the southern tip of Africa
• $1000 surcharge per available shipping container
• The Panama Canal also reduced traffic by 33% due to the drought.

Red Sea logistics crisis, how to overcome uncertainty

*Source_GD Net Korea

Samsung SDS, integrated logistics support based on global control center

*Major logistics risks shown on the global risk map (Image = Samsung SDS)

• Uncertainty increasing global logistics risk
• Minimize risk through integrated maritime, land, and air operations
• Provides integrated logistics data at a glance

  

*Maritime and air logistics linkage proposed by Samsung SDS (Image = Samsung SDS)

[Editorial] Logistics chaos in the Red Sea region where freight rates have quadrupled in one week... Never-ending price war

*Source_Dong-A Ilbo 

               

The domestic industry is also on alert. In particular, in the case of food with a short shelf life, immediate disruption in domestic supply became inevitable due to transportation delays. To make matters worse, the prices of agricultural products are skyrocketing due to the strong cold and heavy snow that has hit the country. Fresh food prices have shown a double-digit rise for two consecutive months, and concerns have increased that shopping cart prices will fluctuate due to disruptions in the supply of agricultural products due to the cold wave.

Although the core inflation rate excluding agricultural products and petroleum fell below 3% last month, it is not time to relax tension in price management. As supply chain risks become more common due to the conflict between the US and China, and the sparks of war in the Middle East are spreading to the Red Sea logistics crisis, it is necessary to prepare a worst-case price contingency plan. In addition, a system must be established to constantly monitor security crises in global logistics hubs and implement preemptive response measures.