Business Standard

Out-of-control shipping costs fire up retail prices from coffee to toys

Soaring demand, shortage of containers, saturated ports and too few ships have contributed to the squeeze on transportation capacity on every freight path.

shipping, shipping industry, ports
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Prices for customers are rising in other ways, too

Alex Longley, Catherine Bosley and Deirdre Hipwell | Bloomberg
The skyrocketing price of shipping goods across the globe may hit your pocketbook sooner than you think -- from that cup of coffee you get each morning to the toys you were thinking of buying your kids.

Transporting a 40-foot steel container of cargo by sea from Shanghai to Rotterdam now costs a record $10,522, a whopping 547% higher than the seasonal average over the last five years, according to Drewry Shipping. With upwards of 80% of all goods trade transported by sea, freight-cost surges are threatening to boost the price of everything from toys, furniture and car parts to

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