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CONTAINER PRICE UPDATE – 28TH APRIL 2021
Despite hopes that the cost of shipping goods from the Far East may start to fall from the beginning of May, we have been informed that it is quite the opposite.
Please see below an email from one of the shipping agents we use to import goods from China & other areas of the Far East:
Hope this email find you well.
Trust you are aware of the booming situation when the Suez Canal blocked. blank sailing, equipment shortage which caused the ocean freight get up again. same as what happened in December of 2020. It’s really tough to survive for the importers when the ocean freight increase is so crazy.
As a specialist in the logistics ex China and South-East to the UK and Europe. we do hope we can do something to help you through this hard time. Below our rate for early May for your reference:
XIAMEN – FELIXSTOWE – ETD 11-MAY – ETD 3 JUNE – $11800
Will double check if there still have space left when I have your confirmation. We heard from Carriers that the rate will be increased again after May 14th, so if you have any pending shipment have to ship on May, we suggest you to pre-book space first.
So, as you can see, it appears that the price are not coming down as quick as everyone hoped. Our opinion is that there is a certain element of greed from the shipping companies – if importers are that desperate for their goods, and are willing to pay through the nose for it, why would they drop the prices?
Of course, we will keep you updated with any developments on these costs.
SO, WHY ARE THE COST OF BEDS & OTHER FURNITURE ITEMS INCREASING SO MUCH???
We thought it would be useful to explain why every supplier seems to be increasing the costs of beds (and other furniture items) at a rate not seen before.
In October 2020, Wholesale Beds were paying around the $3500 mark for the shipping of containers. We imagine most other suppliers who use 40′ HQ containers were paying about the same price.
In November, we were informed that for a number of reasons, these costs were going to be doubled to around $6800. The main reason stated is that due to the lack of empty containers in the UK to collect, the shipping vessels were returning to the Far East with very little to take back.
After returning back to work in the New Year, we were then informed that shipping costs could go as high as $14,000 before the Chinese New Year. In some cases, this proved to be correct. Wholesale Beds have been paying around the $12,500 mark for shipping alone.
As is it all relative to what is in the container, we (and everyone else) have had to amend their prices accordingly. A very quick calculation – a container holding 150 Ottoman bed frames used to cost per bed $23 to ship – it now costs $83 to ship. As you will have noticed from our price list, we have not increased the Ottoman prices by $60!
On top of this, material costs are increasing worldwide. You only have to cast your mind back to late 2020 and the cost of memory foam mattresses went through the roof. Our supplier of wrought iron bed frames has said that when he is asking for steel prices, the quote is only valid for 6 hours.
So, for those of you who have been asking for quotations going into the summer, you can appreciate how difficult it is for us to do so, as the material and shipping prices seem to be changing on an almost daily basis.
We thought it would be useful to share a snippet of an email we received last week from our suppliers in China…
“Due to the raw metal cost is increased to 5,900 in these few weeks, according to the market research, it seems this rate would not reduce in coming short period.
As mentioned, the exchange rate was already decreased from 7.0 to 6.45 now, it’s about 8.5% different, the cost of foam / slats / gas piston / fittings / cardboard cartons, packaging etc are all increased.
Thus, from 01st April 2021 onwards (BL’s shipped on board date), all the prices will be increased by 8% onwards including all the orders in hand”.
So, you can see that at the moment all suppliers who import from the Far East will be facing these price increases, not just Wholesale Beds.
We have taken steps to see if it is any cheaper to manufacture in the UK yet – however, the cost for the same spec of beds in the UK is still far more than our selling costs (even with the increased shipping costs).
Hopefully, the shipping costs will start to come down in the next few months and we will return to some kind of normality towards the summer months.
Thanks for sticking with us, we truly appreciate what a difficult time it is for everyone at the moment, and we look forward to seeing you all back from 12th April.