Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Dhaka: <keyword id="19919639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bangladesh" source="keywords">Bangladesh</keyword>'s garment industry, a vital economic pillar, is facing a severe crisis due to a volatile mix of <keyword id="20444027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="political-unrest" source="keywords">political unrest</keyword>, including violent protests, and catastrophic flooding, threatening to unravel years of rapid growth and global prominence. The textile and garment industry, which accounts for over 80 per cent of Bangladesh's total export earnings and contributes approximately 11 per cent to the nation's GDP, has been hit hard. This industry contributes significantly to export earnings and employs millions. Following the unprecedented anti-government protests, which reached a crescendo on August 5, Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country. She landed in India on August 5 and is currently staying there. The two-month-long anti-quota protests have led to widespread demonstrations, curfews, and violence. This unrest has not only disrupted factory operations but has also caused significant economic losses. Factories were forced to close, and with the peak season for Christmas shipments and the booking of next season's orders upon us, the timing of the unrest has exacerbated the crisis. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (<keyword id="22930680" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BGMEA" source="keywords">BGMEA</keyword>) recently has reported substantial financial losses, estimating a shortfall of Tk 6,400 crore (approx Rs 4,500 crore) due to the shutdowns and communication breakdowns. Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, the newly elected president of the BGMEA, mentioned that the goal of reaching nearly USD 45 billion in exports this year may not be achieved. He attributed this to disruptions in both export activities and production. "I think this is a temporary crisis and we will tide over it. The exact magnitude of the losses will be known later, but yes, there has been an impact," he told PTI. Echoing similar sentiments, former cabinet minister and president of BGMEA, Gholam Sarwar Milon, said the garment industry has been badly hit by both the political unrest and the floods, as both production and the supply chain of raw materials have been severely affected. "The crisis in the garment industry is unprecedented. Production is nearly 15-20 per cent less than the corresponding period last year. Several orders have dried up as investors and order suppliers are wary about investing. Several small factories have either closed down or are working on sub-contracts for big factories," he told PTI. According to BGMEA sources, out of 3,000 major and small garment factories in Bangladesh, nearly 800-900 have closed since last year. "The big factories have survived, but the small and medium factories have borne the brunt. If the situation persists, it will worsen further," he said. Milon suggested that the garment industry needs to diversify into making jute bags and other high-end clothing and also look for new markets. The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association has projected losses of around USD 58 million. The impact on the industry is compounded by the recent flooding, which has further disrupted logistics and exacerbated the economic fallout. Bangladesh's main port, Chattogram, through which more than 90 per cent of the country's international trade transits, has become a focal point of the chaos. The port's operations were paralysed during the political unrest, leading to significant delays in shipments. Factories have struggled to maintain production schedules, and backlogs at ports and airports have stretched to a month in some cases. To mitigate the damage, factories have turned to air freight and extended working hours, but these measures have not fully alleviated the delays. The president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), Mohammad Hatem, said orders are down by 15-20 per cent. "The industry has incurred huge losses in the last few months. In 2014, during political unrest, we suffered a similar situation. It then took us three years to return to the previous state. We hope to tide over the situation soon as Chief Advisor <keyword id="20024384" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="muhammad-yunus" source="keywords">Muhammad Yunus</keyword> is taking several steps to restore normalcy," he told PTI. Hatem feels that if the situation is not overcome soon, there is a growing perception that foreign investors might look at new markets in other South Asian nations. "However, other South Asian markets don't have the infrastructure like Bangladesh, which has such huge production capacity," he said. The garment industry's workforce, which employs over 4 million people directly and nearly 15 million indirectly, with a significant proportion of women, faces mounting uncertainty. The sector's remarkable growth over the past two decades-from USD 5 billion in exports in 2001 to nearly USD 40 billion in 2023-now stands at risk. The floods have compounded the challenges, causing damage to infrastructure and further complicating logistics. Monsoon rainfall-triggered floods in deltaic Bangladesh and upstream Indian regions have killed several people and marooned or affected nearly 3 million others in Bangladesh, posing a huge administrative challenge to the newly installed interim government amid a political transition. "Due to the floods, the supply chain has been badly affected. We reached a high in 2023-24 where our garment exports touched around USD 46 billion. This time it is likely to be much less," said former army major and owner of a woollen garment factory, Mahfuzur Rehman. The sector's growth from a small-scale operation in the early 1980s to becoming the world's second-largest apparel exporter, after China, underscores its strength. In the financial year 2009, Bangladesh's apparel exports were valued at USD 12 billion. By the financial year 2023-24, this figure had surged to over USD 46 billion, reflecting the industry's capacity for recovery and growth even amid adversity. In response to the crisis, the interim government, now led by Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, has prioritised restoring order and stability. According to garment industry insiders, the path to recovery is fraught with challenges as the political instability has undermined investor confidence, and the recent flooding has further strained the already fragile infrastructure. "The sector's resilience will be tested as it attempts to regain its footing and restore its reputation as a reliable global supplier," a garment industry owner, who did not wish to be named, said. He added that despite the current crisis, Bangladesh's textile and garment industry has shown great strength and the ability to recover in the past.

Bangladesh garment industry faces crisis amid political unrest and floods

New Delhi: The Indian garment and knitted fabric sector is witnessing a bit of uncertainty due to the <keyword id="22498521" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh-crisis" source="keywords">Bangladesh crisis</keyword>, Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> said on Saturday, expressing hope that the interim government there will settle things "sooner rather than later." Interacting with the media on the sidelines of customary post Budget address to the central board of <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reserve-Bank-of-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reserve Bank of India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reserve Bank of India">Reserve Bank of India</keyword>, she said efforts are being taken to ensure that borders with the neighbouring country are safe. With regard to Indian investments, she said, the textile industry particularly from Tamil Nadu has made investments there in good faith and they have done well having gone there. "The exports from <keyword id="19919639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bangladesh" source="keywords">Bangladesh</keyword> also increased because of the duty and quota liberal approach that we have towards low-income countries. They (Indian garment industry based in Bangladesh) could even export to India." Particularly, she said, the garment and knitted fabric sector is seeing a bit of uncertainty because of the crisis in the neighbouring country. "I hope that the investments are all safe... it's too early for me to see what kind of an impact this situation in Bangladesh will have on our economy. I hope that the interim government will settle things sooner rather than later so that both the people of Bangladesh and India can get back to normalcy," she said. Earlier this week, Bangladesh plunged into a political crisis when Sheikh Hasina resigned as the Prime Minister and fled the country. Soon after Parliament was dissolved leading to the creation of an interim government. The 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Thursday took oath as the head of an interim government, replacing Sheikh Hasina who abruptly resigned and fled to India leaving the country in turmoil following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs. On Friday, Bangladesh's interim leader Yunus announced the portfolios of his 16-member council of advisors and named a former top diplomat to head the foreign ministry. The Nobel laureate's first task is to bring stability to Bangladesh after he responded to a call by student protesters for him to temporarily lead the country following weeks of deadly anti-government demonstrations against the government led by Sheikh Hasina.

Garment sector facing uncertainty due to Bangladesh crisis, normalcy may return soon: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

<keyword id="6361617" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">Climate change</keyword> may take six months off the average human lifespan, according to a study which found that women and individuals in developing nations are disproportionately affected. The study, published recently in the journal PLOS Climate, evaluated average temperature, rainfall, and <keyword id="14078" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="life-expectancy" source="Orion">life expectancy</keyword> data from 191 countries from 1940-2020. In addition to measuring the isolated impacts of temperature and rainfall, the researchers designed a first-of-its-kind composite climate change index, which combines the two variables to gauge the overarching severity of climate change. Results indicate that in isolation, a <keyword id="1109109" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-temperature" source="Orion">global temperature</keyword> increase of 1 degree Celsius is associated with an average human life expectancy decrease of approximately 0.44 years, or about six months and one week. A 10-point increase in the composite climate change index-which accounts for both temperature and rainfall-is expected to decrease the average life expectancy by six months, the researchers said. Women and individuals in developing nations are disproportionately affected, they said. "The global threat posed by climate change to the well-being of billions underscores the urgent need to address it as a public health crisis, as revealed by this study," said Amit Roy from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Bangladesh and The New School for Social Research, U.S. The study emphasises that "mitigation efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and proactive initiatives are essential to safeguard life expectancy and protect the health of populations worldwide," Roy added. Temperature and rainfall-two telltale signals of climate change-cause myriad public health concerns, from the acute and direct (e.g., natural disasters like flooding and heat waves) to the indirect yet equally devastating (e.g., respiratory and mental illnesses), the researchers said. While impacts like these are observable and well documented, existing research has not established a direct link between climate change and life expectancy, they said. The team is hopeful that the composite climate change index will standardise the global conversation about climate change, become a usable metric for the nonscientific public and encourage collaboration and even friendly competition among countries to combat the impacts of climate change. Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a changing environment are of particular importance, the researchers said. To complement this large-scale approach, they suggest localised future studies that consider specific severe weather events (e.g., wildfires, tsunamis, and floods), the impacts of which cannot be fully captured through analysing temperature and rainfall alone.

Climate change may reduce average life expectancy by half a year: Study

With the steep hike in <keyword id="169012" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="yarn" source="Orion">yarn</keyword> prices continuing the garment industries in <keyword id="6517945" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tiruppur" source="Orion">Tiruppur</keyword> are in crisis. Several units are not functioning for the past several months with most of them getting outsourced orders from major garment exporters. Exporters of Tiruppur, which is considered the knitwear hub of <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, are in a tough situation as they are unable to execute international orders that they have taken. This, according to exporters, would lead to the market going elsewhere. It may be noted that Bangladesh and Vietnam are two major contenders for European and United States markets along with India and Sri Lanka. While the economic crisis in Sri Lanka has already taken its toll on that country, with the industry slumping, the spiraling yarn prices have led to a grinding halt for several units in Tiruppur. It may be noted that the prices of all varieties of Yarn were moving around Rs 220-290 per kg during 2021 but after the yarn mill owners increased prices, the commodity touched more than Rs 400 per kilogram. The exporters are not able to negotiate prices with the buyers and hence there is a decline in the orders as high yarn prices take the industry to losses. An exporter who does not want to be named, while speaking to IANS said: "High yarn prices are making it difficult for us to negotiate orders. In August 2021, the prices of one kilogram of yarn were 220, but now the prices in April -May have touched around Rs 440 per kg." He said that the industry cannot survive at the price of yarn as there would be huge losses to the exporters and hence most of the companies are either shut or operating with a minuscule workforce. The exporter said that as they could not employ, a large number of workers from North Indian states and from North Eastern states have left Tiruppur for good. Several local workers from the districts of <keyword id="103531" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pudukottai" source="Orion">Pudukottai</keyword>, Dindigul, <keyword id="6373821" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="madurai" source="Orion">Madurai</keyword>, and <keyword id="185024" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tiruvannamalai" source="Orion">Tiruvannamalai</keyword> have also left for their home districts as there are no jobs in Tiruppur. Ravisekhar. K, a worker from Pudukottai in <keyword id="20154" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tamil-nadu" source="Orion">Tamil Nadu</keyword> while speaking to IANS said: "I was living at Tiruppur with my friends and now almost all of us are leaving the garment city. There is no work and we were earning around 23000 Rs per month. I don't know what I am going to do in my village other than farming. However, farming will not yield much money, and my family consisting of a father, mother, wife, and two children will have to starve. It's a very sad state of affairs." Notably, there are around 1.30 lakh migrant workers in the various garment factories of Tiruppur and if the crisis continues, it will affect a large number of families who are dependent on this industry. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/air-passenger-volume-will-double-from-200-min-to-400-mn-in-7-10-years-scindia/articleshow/93743327.cms">Air passenger volume will double from 200 min to 400 mn in 7-10 years: Scindia</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/it-dept-seeks-to-prosecute-anil-ambani-for-holding-secret-funds-in-swiss-accounts/articleshow/93742866.cms">IT dept seeks to prosecute Anil Ambani for holding secret funds in Swiss accounts</a>

Tiruppur garment industry in crisis due to a steep rise in yarn prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The war in <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> has lifted <keyword id="13561385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fertilizer" source="Orion">fertilizer</keyword> prices, leading to concerns of a global food shortage.</li><li>Many low-income countries were struggling with hunger and pricey fertilizer before the invasion.</li></ul>In an era of abundant economic worries, the chaos in the world's fertilizer market is one of the most concerning.The war in Ukraine has boosted already high fertilizer prices. Russia serves as the world's top fertilizer exporter, selling <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/hs92/fertilizers#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20the%20top%20exporters,and%20France%20(%241.83B).">some $7.6 billion worth of fertilizer</a> in 2020, according to data from the French research organization CEPII. Russia's invasion of Ukraine slammed both countries' abilities to trade, and in early March the Russian government called on fertilizer producers <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-04/russia-calls-on-domestic-fertilizer-producers-to-halt-exports">to suspend exports entirely</a>.The new supply pressures have lifted prices at a stunning clip. The <a href="https://fertilizerpricing.com/priceindex/">Green Markets North America fertilizer-price index</a> — which tracks the costs of urea, potash, and diammonium phosphate — has soared by 42% since the invasion began in late February.Higher fertilizer prices may not seem worrisome for the average American — potash and urea don't show up on most people's grocery lists. But the prices of food staples like wheat are also soaring, risking hunger crises in low- and middle-income countries. Persistently higher fertilizer costs could turn food inflation into a lasting problem and plunge the world into a new kind of economic turmoil."I am deeply concerned that the violent conflict in Ukraine, already a catastrophe for those directly involved, will also be a tragedy for the world's poorest people living in rural areas who cannot absorb the price hikes of staple foods and <keyword id="11994879" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="farming" source="Orion">farming</keyword> inputs that will result from disruptions to global trade," said Gilbert Houngbo, the president of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development."We are already seeing price hikes, and this could cause an escalation of hunger and poverty with dire implications for global stability."<h2>Soaring fertilizer prices escalate food-shortage concerns</h2>The world was already short on food before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. A <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cb4474en/online/cb4474en.html#chapter-executive_summary">UN report on food security</a> estimated that between 720 million and 811 million people faced hunger in 2020 — an increase of as many as 161 million from 2019 — as the coronavirus crisis and economic recession hobbled poorer countries.The Russia-Ukraine conflict has only worsened the problem. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/wheat-price">Wheat prices</a> have soared by 27% since the invasion began, with markets bracing for supply from both Russia and Ukraine to fade. While advanced economies can absorb higher costs and turn to alternatives, developing countries are stuck with few options aside from footing a larger bill.Fertilizer prices are also up about 260% from prepandemic levels, having been dented by higher energy costs and new export-licensing mandates imposed by major exporters like Russia and China.These higher costs are forcing farmers to scale back production or use less fertilizer and risk harvesting smaller yields. Some <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/manure-big-business-high-demand-russia-ukraine-war-fertilizer-prices-2022-4">are clamoring for animal manure</a> to replace commercial nutrients. Even if the Russian invasion were to end soon and food inflation cooled, soaring fertilizer costs would have a delayed effect on the market and leave supply strained well into the future.Expensive crop nutrients hinder advanced economies' ability to fill the hole in the world's food supply. The US Department of <keyword id="11963490" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="agriculture" source="Orion">Agriculture</keyword> <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2022/03-31-2022.php">said in late March</a> that it expected farmers in the US to plant less corn but a record amount of soybeans in 2022. Soybeans require less commercial fertilizer than corn, and a shift signals that farmers are gearing up for prolonged disruption in the fertilizer market.The uptick in fertilizer prices could even spark civil unrest in countries with unstable food supplies. Food-price shocks triggered riots in Haiti, Bangladesh, and Mozambique in 2007 and 2008, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-bread-food-prices-civil-unrest-arab-spring-egypt-2022-3">Insider's Jason Lalljee reported in March</a>. Food scarcity also played a role in the Arab Spring protests of the early 2010s as people struggling with hunger and poverty mobilized against their governments.Intense damage has already emerged in the world's most vulnerable countries. The UN's World Food Programme <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/countdown-catastrophe-begins-yemen-funding-food-assistance-dwindles">said in late February</a> that it had been forced to halve food assistance for 8 million people facing hunger in Yemen. The program's executive director, David Beasley, said the combination of dwindling funds and soaring prices risked pushing millions of Yemenis into famine conditions."We have no choice but to take food from the hungry to feed the starving," Beasley said, adding, "This will be hell on earth."<h2>Pricey fertilizer worsens the world's inflation problem</h2>The fertilizer-price surge is also a major obstacle in the fight against inflation. Food prices are a major component of headline inflation measures; the category has a 14% weighting in the consumer price index, for example. If fertilizer prices don't fall back to earth, it could weigh on future crop yields and keep food supply well below US demand.The price surge also strikes at a weakness in the Federal Reserve's plan to quell price growth. The central bank <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserve-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-higher-costs-loans-mortgages-2022-3">started raising interest rates in March</a> partly in an effort to ease inflation. Higher borrowing costs help rein in demand for a range of goods, but people need to eat, and the Fed's plan to fight inflation can't do much to close the gap between food supply and demand.Inflation in other pockets of the <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword> is worsening the fertilizer problem. Energy prices have soared more than any other major CPI category, leaping by nearly 26% over the past year. Natural gas is one of those surging energy commodities and a crucial component in the production of commercial fertilizers. Rising natural-gas prices have already forced European fertilizer factories <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/09/business/food-costs-fertilizer-yara/index.html">to scale back production</a>, threatening an even bigger nutrient shortage in the months ahead.The world is adjusting somewhat to combat the new price pressures. The USDA announced in March that it would make $250 million available in the summer <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/03/11/usda-announces-plans-250-million-investment-support-innovative#:~:text=USDA%20will%20make%20available%20%24250,production%20to%20supply%20American%20farmers.">to boost domestic fertilizer production</a>.But last-minute adjustments aren't likely to fully counter a fertilizer shortage. The world is already struggling to shoulder rising food costs, and there's little indication that the war in Ukraine will end soon. As farmers make do, elevated fertilizer prices loom over hungry countries and inflation-rattled economies.

The war in Ukraine is sending fertilizer prices through the roof. That could spark food shortages in countries already struggling with widespread hunger.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Your favorite brands are paying 10 times the typical price of <keyword id="6361763" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="shipping">shipping</keyword> your stuff across the ocean.</li><li>Shortages also abound.</li><li>It's all thanks to a chaos in maritime trade that's been unfolding since last year.</li></ul>The price for a shipping container is looking a lot like a meme stock.The surge in shipping costs points to our shortage of semiconductors, lumber, chicken, chlorine, and, really, <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-everything-shortage-51622243982">"just about everything."</a> The pandemic broke the supply chain last year, and the shipping companies that move stuff all over the world still haven't recovered.We rely on a complex, global supply chain. It's the reason we can get two-day shipping on ultra-cheap Wayfair furniture <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/wayfair-logistics-investment/573199/">built in Vietnam</a> or why seafood caught in the US is so cheap (much of it is actually processed <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-seafood-industry-vulnerable-to-tariffs-aimed-at-china-1533812400">in China</a> before it's shipped back here).Ocean shipping powers our ability to buy a massive variety of inexpensive stuff. This system needs many things to function, but I'll distill those into a few important elements: <ul><li>Massive ocean-faring ships</li><li>Containers on the ships</li><li>Places for the ships to park so that the containers can be unloaded</li></ul>And, all of those things have broken at some point in the last year and a half! In fact, many of them are still broken. Here's how that happened and why the shortages are still going on.<h2>Our world's weird new megaships</h2>I am a newbie to the world of shipping. So, to better understand what's going on with our current chaos, I chatted with Simon Sundboell, a 20-year veteran of the world of container shipping based in Copenhagen. He's the founder of ocean shipping intelligence firm <a href="https://www.eesea.com">eeSea</a>. To understand the shipping debacle, Sundboell took me back to the mid-2000s. Ocean shipping was a more fragmented industry than it is today, and manufacturers and retailers could pit these various firms against each other to win low rates. To reach economies of scale, major ocean carriers began demanding larger ships. <div type="image" title="World's largest container ship in the port of Hamburg" height="694" width="926" msid="83436895" hostid="261"></div>An analysis of <a href="https://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/products/fleet/vessel.html">the fleet listed on the website of Hapag-Lloyd</a>, <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/top-10-liners-control-85-of-market-and-theyre-not-done-yet">which is the world's sixth-largest ocean carrier by volume</a>, makes that clear. I found that the average ship in the German ocean carrier's line built in the 2000s could hold just under 6,400 containers of around 20-feet long. For ships built after 2010, that number nearly doubled to around 11,500.Sundboell told me that these larger ships did manage to increase profitability for <keyword id="6558700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Maersk">Maersk</keyword>, MSC, and other major carriers - but margins were tight. Ships couldn't be less than around 90% full in order to keep these carriers in business.It reminds me of America's <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-railroads-are-making-freight-trains-longer-and-longer-1529055002">bizarrely-long</a> <keyword id="59735" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="freight">freight</keyword> trains, which stretched to three miles long in order. On an entirely other note, chicken breasts have increased by 80% <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/chickens-four-times-bigger-than-they-used-to-be-study-1.2041561">over the past few decades</a> (and the birds themselves grow <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/bigger-chickens-bring-a-tough-new-problem-woody-breast-1459207291">much faster</a>).In our pre-pandemic times, everything was just getting bigger and bigger! But perhaps we flew too close to the sun. <h2>No ships</h2>The first hit to the world's ocean shipping network came in early spring of last year, Sundboell told me. As the pandemic spread around the globe, it was unclear if factories in Asia would be open, or if consumers globally would even have the ability to buy durable goods. So, they started canceling sailings."The carriers are sitting here in March 2020, looking at a market where they have no idea whether the demand side, meaning the containers that go on their vessels, are going to drop by 5%, 15%, 30% or 50%," Sundboell told me. And recall that these companies can't profitably runt their megaships unless they're full.As a result, carriers started to "blank," or cancel, their sailings. One major shipping alliance announced cutbacks of up to 22% on voyages between Asia and Europe <a href="https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/blanked-april-sailings-soar-carriers-prep-sharp-demand-drop_20200401.html">during the spring of 2020</a>. Between Asia and North America, carriers <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/qa-inside-the-early-warning-system-of-global-trade">slashed some 20% of capacity</a>. <h2>No parking</h2>A slowdown in manufacturing, and the predictions of an economic meltdown, forced the shipping world into a standstill in the early half of 2020. By the latter half, the world was starting to "turn back on."Rather than turning frugal, consumers started spending all that cash they had tucked away for travel and restaurants on stuff. It's no secret people started buying treadmills, couches, and hair dye more than ever. That trend is still firing up the US ports that handle our imports. The Port of Los Angeles, which is the United States' largest by volume, broke its first-quarter cargo record <a href="https://www.portoflosangeles.org/references/news_041421_marchteus">this year</a>. The Port of Long Beach, the second largest, <a href="https://maritime-executive.com/article/import-boom-port-of-long-beach-breaks-another-cargo-record">handled more cargo than ever last month</a>. <div type="image" title="About 20 container ships wait to be unloaded in the Ports of LA and Long Beach" height="550" width="736" msid="83436899" hostid="261"></div>This unusual boom in volume has helped spark a massive port traffic jam. Let's narrow in on Long Beach and Los Angeles, our country's two biggest ports.During the first half of 2020, data from the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association showed under 5% of shipments had a dwell time - the time a ship spends at a port rather than at sea - greater than five days. It steadily increased <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/california-port-congestion-los-angeles-long-beach-data/594715/">throughout the year</a>. And from October through December of that year, around a quarter of ships were waiting more than five days. By late January 2021, some 55 vessels were crowded around the LA and Long Beach ports, reportedly sitting in the ocean for up to two weeks. FreightWaves noted that it took longer for some of these ships just to get unloaded than it was for them <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trans-pacific-trade-crashes-into-max-capacity-ceiling">to cross the Pacific</a>. Why is there a delay to unload these ships? The boom in demand is, of course, one leading reason. American ports are also seeing a shortage of labor. There's an <a href="https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/california-port-congestion-los-angeles-long-beach-data/594715/">ongoing shortage of the longshoremen</a> who who undertake the critical task of getting these containers off the ship and onto trucks or trains. Dozens were quarantined due to the coronavirus at varying points <a href="https://www.joc.com/port-news/terminal-operators/import-surge-labor-shortages-worsen-la-lb-congestion_20210112.html">last year</a>.Above all, when something goes astray with ocean shipping, there's a major butterfly effect. A ship that's unloaded two weeks late in Los Angeles is also going to be two weeks late when it arrives back in, say, Chittagong, Bangladesh to load up on IKEA furniture. The ship before that may have been two weeks late, too, so the carrier might just cancel the ship IKEA was expecting space on, Sundboell said. Then IKEA will have to scramble for another way to move your nightstand - and potentially every order they had after that, which will now be pushed down the road.<h2>No containers</h2>Halfway into 2021, the situation has not improved.There's another shortage giving rise to our shortages: A lack of shipping containers. Or rather, a lack of containers where they need to be. Some of these containers are being used on ships right now, <a href="https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1403018803156459523?s=21">as Flexport's Ryan Petersen noted on Twitter this week</a>. This includes ships that might be hanging out in the ocean, waiting to dock and get unloaded. The bigger issue is that many of these containers are not going back to Asia to get reloaded with stuff. US exports have not kept up with imports from China, our largest trans-Pacific trading partner. According to FreightWaves SONAR data, import volume from China via ocean shipping is up 54% year-over-year. Exports have only ticked up by 4.4%. That means lots of containers are leaving Asia, but not enough have been returning there. <div type="image" title="Starbucks Opens First Container Store In Chinese Mainland" height="682" width="910" msid="83436900" hostid="261"></div>Until recently, as Petersen explained on a recent episode of Bloomberg's Odd Lots, ocean carriers didn't realize they needed to be carrying more empty containers back than ever. We're still correcting this imbalance of containers, and experts predict it will remain wonky <a href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/no-relief-global-container-shortage-likely-to-last-until-2022">until 2022</a>.<h2>At least the shipping scions are doing well</h2>The dirty secret is that the bottlenecks hampering shipping right now is bad for seemingly everyone except the shipping companies. Should these containers stay in Los Angeles instead of gliding back over to Shanghai, that only reduces ocean shipping capacity... driving freight rates ever higher, and pumping up profits for major ocean cargo lines. Indeed, these past few years are some of the first in a while that ocean carriers are winning the game. <a href="https://investor.maersk.com/static-files/97a03c29-46a2-4e84-9b7e-12d4ee451361">Maersk, for example,</a> turned a profit of $2.9 billion in 2020; it lost money three of the four years preceding 2020. Shipping companies didn't have the upper hand against the brands whose stuff they carry before the pandemic. Now, Zara, IKEA, and their peers are scrambling for space on one of these ships and willing to pay top dollar, Sundboell told me. <div type="image" title="Zara shopper" height="684" width="912" msid="83436904" hostid="261"></div>That's going to continue to make everything more expensive. Sundboell provided the example of Nike usually paying $2,000 for a 40-foot container full of sneakers. Now, that container might be more around $15,000 to $20,000.A shoe or apparel manufacturer, like Nike, normally wouldn't fret about the cost of moving your goods across the ocean. "It wasn't something you'd ever worry about," Sundboell told me. "Now suddenly at $20,000, you're starting to see good that within margins that are no longer profitable to even sell it."Should we prepare for a sneaker shortage now? Get ready, folks... Let me know what you think of this latest dispatch at <a href="mailto:rpremack@insider.com">rpremack@insider.com</a>. What's the next shortage? Do you have any other ideas on what's happening in ocean shipment? Thanks for reading!

Why the world is in a shipping crisis

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Europe is snapping up liquefied <keyword id="6354703" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="natural-gas" source="Orion">natural gas</keyword>, and poorer countries can't get enough supplies, the Wall Street Journal reported. </li><li>Countries including India, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Pakistan have been forced to slash LNG imports as prices soar. </li></ul>Developing nations are struggling to get enough liquefied natural <keyword id="11955852" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="gas" source="Orion">gas</keyword> while European countries are snapping up huge amounts as they seek alternatives to Russian supplies. So far in 2022, Europe has upped its LNG imports by 49%, Wood Mackenzie data shows, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Feurope-scoops-up-lng-choking-off-power-supplies-in-poorer-nations-11657212688%3Fsiteid%3Dyhoof2">according to the Wall Street Journal</a>. Comparatively, India, China, and Pakistan have cut imports by 16%, 21%, and 15%, respectively. Since <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword> invaded Ukraine, Europe has faced a spiraling energy crisis as Moscow curbs its gas exports. LNG used to be cheaper than crude, but the price is now equivalent to $230 per barrel of <keyword id="11896879" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oil" source="Orion">oil</keyword> after soaring 1,900% from pandemic lows.And as LNG prices have shot up, companies are preferring to sell to more creditworthy countries in Europe, the Journal said. Even cargo that was on the way to poorer nations has been rerouted to Europe, as it presents a profitable trade for suppliers despite penalties for breaking contracts with developing countries. "Because of the <keyword id="13186997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine-war" source="Orion">Ukraine war</keyword>, every single molecule that was available in our region has been purchased by Europe, because they're trying to reduce their dependence on Russia," Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said, as the country's LNG tender for $1 billion drew no offers on Thursday. In Bangladesh, the government has had to shut off electricity for some hours of the day. India, meanwhile, has started to use more coal power and domestic gas, according to the report.Meanwhile, Europe is rushing to stockpile as much LNG as possible to prepare for the colder winter months when gas demand jumps. "The European gas crisis is sucking the world dry of LNG," Valery Chow, head of Asia Pacific gas at Wood Mackenzie, told the Journal. "Emerging <keyword id="11893875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="markets" source="Orion">markets</keyword> in Asia have borne the brunt of this and there is no end in sight."

Europe's scramble for gas is depriving poorer nations from getting enough amid the energy crisis

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A global food crisis is unfolding, spurred by the Ukraine invasion and climate events.</li><li>Food shortages have led to civil unrest in the past, with deadly consequences.</li><li>Experts warn that even if you are well-fed, rising food costs in the country will impact you.</li></ul>In India, the cost of lemons has skyrocketed. Jollof rice has become so expensive in Nigeria that people are skipping meals. In Mexico, avocado prices have jumped, making them a luxury few can afford. Orange groves in Florida are yielding the lowest amount of fruit in years. And in Japan, a shortage of salmon is hitting the sushi trade.Zoom out and it's clear: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/global-food-crisis-unfolding-how-its-affecting-13-places-worldwide-2022-8">A food crisis is unfolding around the world</a>, with prices shooting up everywhere. And when that happens, everyone feels the pain. People can cut back on movies or even driving when the cost of tickets or gas surges, but everyone needs to eat.The crisis — a long time in the making, but brought to a head by Russia's invasion of Ukraine — is already having profound effects. In Peru, protests against a jump in food and fuel costs turned deadly in April. Sri Lanka's government collapsed and its president was ousted in July, as people took to the streets to demonstrate against a scarcity of food, fuel, and medicine.Unless urgent action is taken, experts warn that the crisis could have dire global consequences. In some countries, changes in the availability of food might alter age-old recipes and customs. Civil unrest could spread, fueling instability and even war in some of the world's poorest regions. A breakdown in food systems could drive huge waves of migration.<div type="image" title="A large crowd of protestors waving flags gather in front of the presidential building in Sri Lanka." height="3152" width="5184" msid="93281523" hostid="261"></div><h2>'A food crisis is a price crisis'</h2>Global food prices have surged following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February. In the US, prices jumped 10% year-over-year as of May, the biggest increase since 1981, and rose to a record 8.9% in the eurozone. Globally, things are even worse: The UN's world food price index shot up 23% year-over-year as of June. Simply put, more and more people are struggling to afford food. "A food crisis is a price crisis," Chris Barrett, an economist and food-policy expert at Cornell University, told Insider. He said its implications are widespread and touch every person's life, even if they don't immediately realize it."If you worry about domestic politics, if you worry about environmental matters, if you worry about immigration matters, if you worry about diplomacy in the military, you should be paying attention to the food crisis, because it is lurking in the background, pushing those things," Barrett said.Warnings from global organizations are growing louder and more desperate. According to the UN World Food Programme, 50 million people around the world are on the brink of famine and risk being tipped over, with the WFP's director calling it a "looming hunger catastrophe."<h2>'It really is a bunch of crises coming together'</h2>Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine pushed the global food system to a breaking point. Before the war, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for 30% of globally traded <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-wheat-russia-prices-food-crisis-2022-6">wheat</a>, 20% of maize, and 70% of sunflower supplies, according to the WFP.The war hasn't just laid waste to farms. Putin's troops have blockaded Ukraine's Black Sea coast, stopping vital agricultural products from leaving the country. Meanwhile, the conflict and the resulting Western sanctions on Russia have sent energy costs shooting up, with oil prices up more than 40% this year, which in turn drives up the cost of fertilizer."This issue could be easily prolonged into next year, because if you're a Ukrainian producer and your domestic price is, say, half of what it is on a global basis, your incentive or your ability to plant the next crop has been curtailed significantly due to poor margins, as you are still paying high prices for inputs," Wayne Gordon, a senior commodities strategist at UBS, told Insider. Although the Ukraine war sparked the crisis, other factors have been bubbling for a long time. Climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rising number of conflicts around the world have piled pressure on the global food system in recent years.<div type="image" title="A drying ditch of water surrounded by golden grassy hills." height="2624" width="3936" msid="93281526" hostid="261"></div>Warning signs have been around since long before the Russian invasion — and can largely be chalked up to the climate crisis. In 2011, for example, the Black Sea region suffered a severe drought that caused a spike in the price of food, particularly wheat. Many analysts have said it contributed to the unrest that triggered the Arab Spring. Samuel Tilleray, a sovereign credit analyst at S&amp;P Global Ratings, told Insider that "there are clear parallels" to that 2011 drought today.Greenhouse-gas emissions have sparked unpredictable weather patterns, and a UN report from last year found that by the end of the century, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/06/13/climate-disasters-collide-with-ukraine-war-deepen-hunger-crisis/">as much as 30%</a> of current farmland could become unsuitable to grow crops.It's something the world is already seeing now. Severe drought has limited wheat production in major production states like Kansas, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cooking-oil-shortage-ukraine-war-us-uk-indonesia-germany-netherlands-india-2022-5">cooking-oil prices have spiked</a> globally, thanks to drought in South America that limited soybean production.The pandemic didn't help matters much, either. Cornell's Barrett said governments across the globe were "trying to revive economies struggling under the weight of the pandemic," but supply-chain disruptions were running rampant, and oil and ocean-freight prices were spiking. As a result, he said, supply was not keeping pace with demand, and prices were continuing to rise. "Things were already really strained, and now we are facing even greater strain," Annabel Symington, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme on the global food crisis, said. "It really is a bunch of crises coming together."<h2>The crisis impacts you</h2>Food is a key element of any community's culture. When that element becomes scarce — or is removed altogether — civil unrest can occur. In 2008, the international price of wheat doubled, along with milk and meat, leading major producers to ban exports to ensure domestic populations would continue to have supply.In Morocco, 10 people died in 2008 protesting the food shortages, spurring a wave of strikes and protests. In Bangladesh the same year, 10,000 workers rioted by smashing cars and vandalizing factories out of anger at spiking food prices. Experts say there's no reason this time will be different. "High-food-price periods are associated and causally associated with a higher incidence of violence, of political unrest and social unrest," Barrett said. "They're also causally associated with higher rates of forced migration. When people can't feed their families where they live, they leave in search of food. And some of those migrations are quite treacherous."But there are remedies — short- and long-term — that governments can employ to keep people fed. Symington, of the World Food Programme, said governments should give all they can to help avert the growing risk of famine in the world's most vulnerable regions. Barrett said that automatic safety-net provisions should always be in place to ensure there are financial resources when anyone becomes food insecure.Over the longer term, Symington said international organizations and political leaders should also encourage a shift toward more local food production, making people less reliant on global supply chains. Barrett suggested the World Trade Organization should price stabilize exports to prevent "crazy price gyrations."But no matter what actions governments take, life is going to get more expensive for all of us, and a lot more difficult for billions. "Even if you are well-fed and all your loved ones and neighbors are well-fed, you are impacted by this," Barrett said.

You Searched For "Bangladesh crisis" and got 8 results

Bangladesh garment industry faces crisis amid political unrest and floods

PTI

Garment sector facing uncertainty due to Bangladesh crisis, normalcy may return soon: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

PTI

Climate change may reduce average life expectancy by half a year: Study

PTI

Tiruppur garment industry in crisis due to a steep rise in yarn prices

IANS

The war in Ukraine is sending fertilizer prices through the roof. That could spark food shortages in countries already struggling with widespread hunger.

Ben Winck

Why the world is in a shipping crisis

Rachel Premack

Europe's scramble for gas is depriving poorer nations from getting enough amid the energy crisis

Phil Rosen

We're in a global food crisis that will wreak havoc on local economies and trigger civil unrest

Ayelet Sheffey,Harry Robertson

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides