There is hardly anything that has escaped the irreparable damage and devastation caused by the pandemic. Among the other top-notch crises created in the world for the pandemic, there’s the oxygen availability crisis, effects on the global economy and also the global supply chain crisis.
Supply chain management is one of the most important segments of any particular business and there are essentially 4-5 stages of the process which include planning, sourcing, making and delivering, and finally, returning. Recent reports show that more than 90% of the supply chain have been disrupted globally due to the pandemic situation.
In the light of this situation, the recent news demonstrates how a box of fertilizers testifies for the global supply chain crisis.
A box of fertilizers is now stuck for months at one of the busiest ports of Shanghai, waiting to be transported to the USA due to a disruptive supply chain crisis. But the major problem is that it has been awaiting this journey for many months now, only in vain. It is also important to mention that the box has been stuck there since May 2021, and the port is just a stop away on the extensive trajectory of the US from China. The recent buzz created by this one box of fertilizer is pointing out the immense disruption in the supply chain for businesses and the after-effects of the same.
Delving deeper into the history of this box, it has been effectively traced out that 8 boxes of fertilizers had been ordered by some farmers in Illinois, U.S.A Midwest. Normally in a pre-pandemic situation, with a running supply chain system, a box of fertilizers like this or just any box necessary to be shipped and transported across continents would have taken not more than 2 months. For instance, these boxes of fertilizers could have been there by April.
But, due to the supply chain crisis at hand the fertilizer box was stuck at its manufacturing site, in Chongqing, by May. A shortage of empty containers for transportation of the product was initially the cause of the delay.
Finally, it was launched into the waterway of the Yangtze river, due to which it had to deal with a high amount of transit costs. By the end of May, on the 27th of May the box ultimately reached the world’s busiest port in Shanghai.
The director of logistics at IM-EX Global Inc., Steve Kranig, who is responsible for coordinating the transport of these boxes of fertilizers has spoken of no particular reason for the box being stuck in the port although seven of the other boxes with it have been shipped. The risks of supply chain crisis do not end with the box simply reaching the USA because there is also the journey over the pacifics and the inland journeys as well.
Despite the trouble created by the stuck box, Kranig has received yet another similar order of another 8 boxes. However this time, he wants to avoid the river route. This one box of fertilizers stuck in the port for months thus demonstrates the ripple effects created by the global supply chain crisis.
