Phil Reuben, executive director at international supply chain and logistics consultancy SCALA:
“When the decision to strike was made, ships that were due to arrive at Felixstowe over the past few days had already departed from China, meaning that a number of importers will not have had enough warning to take action, and may not have been able to re-route freight.
If nothing else, UK companies being caught out by this latest strike action is yet another indicator that supply chain resilience is now more critical than ever to business continuity amidst continued disruption. By investing time and effort into achieving end-to-end visibility and understanding of their supply chains, businesses can develop a clearer view of how best to improve the resilience and flexibility of their supply chains and, through this, improve their capability to weather evolving headwinds.
Following on from the various challenges faced in the ocean shipping arena over the last couple of years, the ongoing Covid situation in China and the risks associated with potential China action against Taiwan, this strike should further encourage companies to give serious and urgent consideration to nearshoring, or even onshoring, to reduce potential losses.”
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