2020-2022 Global Supply Chain Crisis

The 2020 to 2022 crisis taught brands that cheap, reliable ocean freight cannot be taken for granted, and it reshaped how they plan inventory, contracts, and port choices. As locked-down consumers bought goods instead of services, imports surged while COVID-19 cut the number of available dockworkers and truck drivers. Drewry's World Container Index climbed above $9,000 per 40-foot container in 2021, and in January 2022 a record 109 container ships waited off Los Angeles and Long Beach. Demurrage, detention, and long lead times followed. Many importers now hold more safety stock, order earlier, and spread volume across ports.

• DemurrageFee for a container left at the port too long
• DetentionFee for holding equipment or a truck too long
• DrayageTrucking containers from port to warehouse

• Yossi Sheffib. 1948 · Director of MIT Transportation and Logistics
• Ryan Petersenb. 1980 · Founder and CEO of Flexport

• COVID-19 E-Commerce Surge2020 · US online sales jump 32 percent as stores close
• Ever Given Suez Canal Blockage2021 · A grounded container ship blocks Suez for six days
• Yantian Port COVID Closure2021 · An outbreak slows a major Shenzhen container terminal

• Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022)2022 · 2022 US law curbing ocean carrier fees and practices

1. Container shipping supply chains will remain disrupted well into 2022 (S&P Global) spglobal.com
2. Case study: Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (UNCTAD) resilientmaritimelogistics.unctad.org
3. How the busiest US port went from swamped to a dormant volcano (AJOT) ajot.com