ATLANTA (CNN): On your next trip to Costco, don’t be surprised if you can’t find your favorite cheese.
Costco has trouble storing imported cheeses due to the scarcity of shipping containers around the world and bottlenecks in major West Coast ports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle. The combination has caused delays for suppliers shipping their products, retailers like Costco receiving higher products and costs along the supply chain.
“The transport of goods abroad has continued to be a problem in terms of container shortages and delays in ports. This has led to delays at the time of certain categories,” said Costco’s chief financial officer. Richard Galanti, in a call with analysts last week.
The problem is not limited to cheese, but also seafood, olive oils, furniture, sporting goods and lawn and garden supplies, Galanti said.
He hopes that “the pressures will be reduced in the coming months, but it will affect everyone.”
Supply chain pressures
Supply chain pressures have been a constant for retailers throughout the pandemic. But a chorus of chains, including Crocs, Urban Outfitters, Foot Locker and Dollar Tree, in recent weeks have described container shortages and delays in West Coast ports as the latest challenges in getting goods for consumers.
“Importing products from Asia, getting them to Long Beach and other ports and shipping them to customers is a challenge right now,” Andrew Rees, CEO of Crocs, said in a Feb. 23 call with analysts. “I think this will soften over time, but it will take a while.”
“We are experiencing some delays in receiving imported goods as a result of equipment shortages worldwide and problems with port congestion,” said Kevin Wampler, CFO of Dollar Tree, last week.
And household items at Anthropologie have also been delayed in arriving in the United States due to a lack of containers in Asia, said Francis Conforti, office manager at Urban Outfitters, in a call with analysts.
“We are starting to see a very, very slight improvement and we expect the improvement to continue at a moderate pace.”
Pandemic demand
Demand for food, furniture, appliances and household items has increased in the pandemic as consumers spend more time at home. He has not left.
U.S. maritime imports rose 20% in January compared to last year, according to the latest available data from Panjiva, a global trade data research firm. According to Panjiva, imports of consumer discretionary goods, such as home appliances, were the main driver of growth.
Higher demand and supply chain disruption also increase costs: the total cost of shipping to the United States reached $ 6.366 billion in January, compared to $ 2.466 billion the previous year .
“The supply chain has been completed to the fullest,” said Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, a trade group for the retail industry. Gold said U.S. ports “were unable to withstand the volume coming in” due to rising demand, as well as hundreds of workers who have been sickened by Covid-19.
“Containers have been sitting in the port longer than they usually do” and “the availability of empty containers has been a challenge, both here and abroad,” he said.
Pressures have led more companies to resort to air cargo to ship goods. Until now, air transportation was “always the last resort because it was eight to ten times more expensive than shipping,” he said.
Gold said companies are trying to avoid passing on the higher costs consumers face, but it is possible that some retailers will offset the rise by raising prices on shelves.
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