UK’S CLOGGED TOP PORT WARNS OF X’MAS STOCK SHORTAGES

Retailers are warning a logjam at the country’s biggest container port could result in product shortages this Christmas, as it emerged 11,000 containers of government-procured protective personal equipment (PPE) are clogging up the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk, which handles 40% of Britain’s incoming and outgoing cargoes, Zoe Wood reported for the Guardian.

Congestion at Felixstowe is a problem for the whole country as the Suffolk port handles approximately 40% of all the containers coming into and out of the UK.

The port is facing two problems that are together hitting deliveries and causing delays, just as the key Christmas trading period – when retailers rely on daily deliveries of stock to keep their shelves full – is getting underway. Firstly, a huge surge in freight volumes is currently underway as retailers load up their warehouses ahead of Christmas and the Brexit deadline. The volumes are greater than usual because the flow of goods into the UK was seriously disrupted during the spring lockdown when, faced with the unfolding health crisis, businesses postponed or cancelled billions of pounds of orders placed with overseas suppliers. There are therefore more containers coming into the port than normal.

At the same time Felixstowe is struggling to provide storage for 11,000 containers of PPE belonging to the government. The backlog is filling 30% of the inbound container space at the port. The PPE was a “significant factor” in the current congestion at port, according to one source who suggested the government did not have anywhere to store it. “There is a big build-up of it,” they said. Felixstowe said it was “proud to support the government and to play a small part in helping ensure the National Health Service (NHS) does not run out of vital PPE during this pandemic.”