A recent move by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping company could spell disaster world-wide for the hobby this holiday season and here’s why!
It looks like new hobby products for Q3 and Q4 this holiday may be affected by one shipping company’s decision to call it quits. Hanjin Shipping handles about 8% of the world’s shipping, and already their fleet is being denied entry to, or anchoring off ports worldwide.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
U.S. shippers say they are bracing for steep rate increases out of Asia after South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. filed for receivership on Wednesday.
The news sent freight brokers and shippers scrambling to find space with other carriers as Hanjin was immobilized in the midst of the busiest season for exports out of Asia. Asia-based freight brokers estimate Hanjin’s daily capacity at 25,000 shipping containers.
A Hanjin ship waited to be unloaded in Oakland, Calif., in March. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The U.S.’s two largest container ports, in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., were each expecting the arrival of a Hanjin ship on Wednesday. According to the director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which keeps tabs on vessels arriving and departing and directs ship traffic, both vessels have dropped anchor off the coast and canceled plans to berth in the ports.
Rival shipping companies are raising prices to accommodate shipping traffic and there have been spikes by as much as 50% over the norm.
What this could mean for the miniatures hobby is big delays getting products out of England, and perhaps delivery of games and hobbies out of China as well.
Remember FFG’S Product Tracker?
On the Boat
The product is traveling from the printer to our warehouse. The duration of this process varies depending on where the printer is located, be it in the US, China, or Germany, but generally takes four to six weeks.
What takes four to six weeks could easily double or triple from this news. Not to mention higher shipping costs may equal higher prices in stores as well.
And don’t forget Games Workshop ships everything out of England to other countries for their “just in time” manufacturing plan.
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal and to find out more about how this move could effect everyone world wide!
