Several Taiwanese media quoted The Loadstar article to disclose that the Australian Maritime Union (MUA) has begun a strike action at the Sydney Pier, requiring investors to increase their wages and improve their working environment. If communication between the two sides is not smooth, there may be another strike action at the end of June and extend to Melbourne and other areas. Freighters said the current severe shortage of transportation capacity has prompted high rates and customers stockpiling goods will avoid repeating the lessons learned last year. Freighter Southern Cross Cargo pointed out that the severe shortage of transportation capacity has kept rates high, and the strike this year has caused many customers to start stockpiling goods, aiming to avoid the impact of the Australian Maritime Union strike last year. Looking back at the Australian Maritime Union launched a strike during September last year, when the ship was delayed by about 11 days. In the environment of shortage of containers and skyrocketing freight rates, the operating costs of export enterprises have been greatly increased, and the pressure on capital turnover has deepened. In addition to transferring costs to commodity prices, traders have also begun to reduce orders. China Times News Network quoted the Drury World Container Index last week, showing that the shipping fee for every 40-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam exceeded US$10,000 for the first time. Otto Schacht, deputy director of logistics company Kuehne+Nagel, believes that in the next six months or even nine months, all industries will be affected by the aftershocks of shipping delays, and the overall tightening of the industrial chain will continue for a while. According to the latest data from the Freightos Baltic Global Container Index (FBX), container shipping rates continue to climb to US$5,926, an increase of more than 70% in the past six months. In addition, the prices of containers shipped from China to the West Coast of the United States have jumped to $6,153, an increase of nearly 80% this year. The report also mentioned that it is becoming increasingly difficult to subcontract ships, given that the Australian Maritime Union is also planning to organize a strike at the Sydney Pier in Hutchison Ports this week. The strike will also spread to the Melbourne region, and the Victoria International Container Terminal (VCT) will also face the risk of a strike. "The industry may face similar dilemmas, with Australian ports delaying ships last year due to harsh climate, infrastructure upgrades and union interference, prompting a surge in price surcharges and freight rates without warnings. Currently, only Dubai Global Port Group (DP World) and the Australian Maritime Union reached an agreement."
