BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 23. Reputable investment company Apollo Management considers that the situation with a sharp increase in transportation costs in the world due to problems with the Suez and Panama Canals is fraught with rising inflation worldwide and the continuation of tight monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve System, which has an impact on the global economy, Trend reports.
According to Apollo Management, the number of ships passing through the world's two main transportation arteries, the Suez and Panama Canals, has fallen by half of the average. Vessels are taking bypass routes.
"Now about 100 ships a week pass through the Suez Canal instead of the usual 200, and 45 instead of 90 through the Panama Canal. The cost of cargo transportation has risen sharply, and such a situation may lead to an acceleration of inflation," the company's experts say.
Based on their information, for example, the cost of shipping containers from Shanghai to Rotterdam has tripled due to route changes and lengthening.
The Drewry WCI index indicates an average increase in the cost of container shipping overall of 173 percent since the beginning of December 2023.
Previously, the Suez Canal served 12 percent of world trade, the Panama Canal five percent.
To note, the reasons for the decrease in the capacity of the canals are different: for the Suez Canal it is attacked by the Houthi rebels, for the Panama Canal it is a drought unprecedented in history.
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