In This Issue
Suttons Seeds acquired by T&M
Lockdown 2 hits sales, but volumes still ahead of last year
Festive announce Christmas 2021 showroom opening dates
Not your average garden centre - Dobbies launch Christmas Ad Campaign
Fosseway Garden Centre make the right choice with Corby & Fellas’ WinRetail system
Lockdown 2 leaves garden centre car parks empty after record sales for October
‘New Gardeners’ fuel record October plant sales
LOFA reports severe disruption at UKs three main container ports
Primus expands with new sales team
2020 is declared a ‘record year’ for compost by The Greener Gardening Company
Why gardening is a lifesaver in lockdown
Ivyline commits to eradicating plastic packaging
Neudorff announces climate-neutral production
DJ Turfcare’s new Autumn Lawn Treatment now endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society
BPOA & Peter Seabrook continue to fund young talent
Plant Based Podcast TV sparks gardening joy
Spring Fair to be replaced by "Spring Fair @Home" on the Spring Fair website
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Garden centre offers £200 reward after theft
RHS confirms gardens will remain open
Real gardening activity shifts sales
Blue Skies in Lockdown at Vitavia
October Christmas drops by 13%
‘Meet’ Rolawn online at the first ever FutureScape VIRTUAL event
Will 'New Gardeners' be as active on Wildlife and Wild Bird Care?
Composite Prime launches reward scheme for installers and stockists
Napoleon Grills to sponsor Kitchen Stage at Camp Carfest 2021
The best of last week's
Garden centres in England and Scotland can stay open - now is the time to review Covid-19 safety
Kaemingk to open UK showroom
British Garden Centres open their 58th centre at Thatcham
Westland rolls out innovative new hosepipe technology
Retail Equipment Limited acquire Greenkey Garden & Home
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
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Bringing the outside in for naturally happy pets with Penny & Pepe
Meat-first ingredients in new Wagg range
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LOFA reports severe disruption at UKs three main container ports

“It will get worse before it gets better” say LOFA.

 

Congestion is causing severe disruptions at the UKs three main container ports. LOFA members are seeing shipping lines not being allowed to return empty containers to the ports because they have exceeded their agreed allocations. Consequently, ports are putting a block on them returning any further containers in an attempt to prevent congestion at the terminals.  In the past shipping lines have used surrounding off quay container yards for overspill storage but this again is an issue because container yards do not operate the same hours as the ports.

 

Major congestion disruptions and misery at all three ports, Felixstowe, Southampton and London are being further compounded by the added introduction of COVID 19 measures.

 

Right now, the situation is worsening, this crisis is expected to continue into next year, or until there is a let up in the current volume levels, which is leading to carrier companies introducing port congestion surcharges.

 

This lack of space and container issues will result in price hikes coming in as early as next week.  This crisis has led to many carriers refusing bookings to the UK and even talks of UK ports being omitted on some vessel rotations. The container capacity issues in the market will inevitably lead to substantial increases to sea freight costs, and the lack of availability will also lead to delays in the delivery of containers to UK destinations. 

 

The situation will become worse before it gets better for logistic providers and UK importers.  It is hoped that the current backlog does not continue into Chinese New Year so that business can recover by the time we reach February 2021 and if not by the time we are all faced with the challenges that Brexit will bring.

 

This is troubling news for LOFA members and the industry as a whole, leisure products start to hit ports as early as December.  The UK appears to be in a particularly difficult position, the congestion and delays which appeared to impact Felixstowe initially has now spread to other ports, resulting in some vessels having to “cut and run’ before discharging containers.  The UK port issues have now led to one or two carriers unofficially communicating their refusal to take bookings to the UK from Asian locations during November. It will therefore follow that their vessels will not be calling at UK ports. 

 

Of course, the peak season, which has been heightened by six months of global trade being pushed into four this year, cannot be expected to continue indefinitely and is usually driven by Black Friday and Christmas sales. So, at some time, in the not too distant future, there must be some much-needed respite for UK ports and business, that said, with COVID-19 starting to peak once more, the current national lockdown and Brexit on the horizon, the next few months are still likely to be extremely challenging time for industry as a whole.

 

www.lofa.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Oliver Queen
Unfortunatelty, I think all importers are going to see prices rising.