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High consumer demand through e-commerce caught many of the world’s major ports off guard, unprepared for the global economic upheaval in recent days. Countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which are shown to be the most affected by the situation, have developed government plans to prevent the situation from affecting the Christmas sales season.
According to the ‘Global Economic Outlook’ report, issued by the International Monetary Fund, problems in the supply chain are affecting the process of economic recovery after the pandemic.
It is for this reason that the multilateral organization lowered the growth forecast for this year to 5.9% from the 6% forecast in July.
But every day concern grows about the stagnation of the supply chain of inputs, raw materials and merchandise that has generated problems in the operation of ports.
According to the ‘Financial Times’ portal, in the United States the main ports have been affected by the presence of ships and goods without mobilizing, the situation occurs after the ports could not match the operational capacity of their Asian counterparts.
Ports of California will work 24 hours a day
In this sense, on October 13, President Joe Biden announced that his Administration participated in conversations to extend the hourly operation of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, both located in California, to an activity of 24 hours and 7 days at the week.
Likewise, the head of the White House assures that he has the promise of support from companies such as Walmart, UPS and FedEx, which will extend their shifts to mobilize the dammed cargo in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
But beyond the logistics problems in ports, another situation that is affecting economic performance, especially in factories, is the shortage of raw materials. “Raw materials still come mainly from emerging countries, where managing the pandemic has been difficult,” economist Isabelle Méjean told the AFP news agency.
United Kingdom works to solve the crisis, increased by Brexit
Another country that has been affected by the crisis in the supply chain has been the United Kingdom. According to the Spanish newspaper ‘El Mundo’, many ships have been diverted to other ports in Europe to alleviate the congestion at the Felixstowe terminal.
Unlike the United States, the British territory suffers from the situation as a consequence of the country’s exit from the European Union, which left various professionals, such as truck drivers, and many fellow countrymen from EU bloc countries unable to work.
“The Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach, for example, has been a place where there has been a lot of pressure in the United States. These are things that many countries are facing and we are looking at all the different elements of the supply chain and where we can make a difference. Where it is under our control, of course we are going to do everything we can, “said UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
With AP and AFP
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