Suez Canal blockage halts 7% of US grain shipment

The Suez Canal blockage by the Ever Given container ship is disrupting world seaborne trade, with shipping tariffs rising sharply and long voyages around Africa becoming the only short-term alternative for many goods and commodities, Bloomberg writes.

According to USDA and vessel data analyzed by Bloomberg, the congestion in the Suez Canal may delay nearly 7% of seaborne U.S. major grain shipments.

More than 80% of the impacted grain shipments are corn, with close to 60% of them on six vessels headed to China. At least one ship, the Ledra, hauling corn to Vietnam, recently diverted toward the route around South Africa.

Even if the Ever Given sails away immediately, there’s a backlog of about 200 vessels of all types that will take days to clear, leading to an ever-increasing pile-up, according to Arthur Richier, a senior freight analyst at Vortexa. That’s assuming an average transit of 50 vessels a day via the canal.

Egyptian authorities appear to want to wait until Monday for a higher tide to try and tow the vessel away, indicating that the most realistic return to normal for vessel traffic will only happen in a minimum of 10 days, Richier said.

According to IHS Markit, the total cargo value of an Ever Given-sized container ship is almost USD 1 bln, given that the average value of products in an ocean container is around USD 40 thou. t.

Previously reported that IGC experts project the world grain production in the 2021/2022 season at 2,287 mln t.

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