“The current surge in freight rates will have a profound impact on trade and undermine socioeconomic recovery, especially in developing countries, until maritime shipping operations return to normal,” said UNCTAD Secretary General Rebeca Grynspan.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy gradually recovered and demand for transport increased, but transport capacity was never able to return to pre-epidemic levels. This contradiction has led to soaring shipping costs this year.

For example, in June 2020, the spot price of the Shanghai-Europe Container Freight Index (SCFI) was below $ 1,000 / TEU. By the end of 2020 it had jumped to around US $ 4,000 / TEU and by the end of July 2021 it had climbed to US $ 7,395. . In addition, shippers also face shipping delays, surcharges, and other costs.

The UN report said: “UNCTAD analysis shows that by 2023, if containerized freight rates continue to skyrocket, the price level of global import products will increase by 10.6%. % and the level of consumer prices of 1.5%.

The impact of soaring shipping costs on different countries is different. In general, the smaller the country and the higher the share of imports in the economy, the more countries are naturally affected. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) will be hit the hardest, and soaring shipping costs will raise consumer prices by 7.5 percentage points. Consumer prices in landlocked developing countries (LDCs) could increase by 0.6%. In the least developed countries (LDCs), consumer prices could increase by 2.2%.