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Covid, China and Brexit make for a grim Xmas

[ October 25, 2022   //   ]

Home delivery expert ParcelHero warns that there will be significant international supply chain disruptions this year as Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his zero-Covid policy.

Another wave of strict lockdowns are disrupting global shipments and the manufacture of many popular goods. Lockdowns in key Chinese port cities Ningbo, Shanghai and Tianjin are already hitting worldwide supply chains, which are now entering peak season. Shipments are stuck and this has also trapped urgently needed empty shipping containers at the port, further disrupting international trade.

ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks says Christmas cheer will be in short supply this year. It warns rising prices and supply chain disruption mean that we are facing an Austerity Christmas as grim as any since World War II.

He added that closer to home, the UK is still battling the impact of Brexit. With many EU citizens leaving Britain in the wake of the vote, the UK now has its lowest unemployment rate for nearly 50 years and there are now significantly fewer workers available for seasonal jobs.

Many of our favourite festive foods will also be more expensive this year. Putin’s war in Ukraine has driven up global food prices. Around 32 million hectares of rich farming land has been disrupted, which normally supplies a quarter of the world’s wheat, half of its sunflower products, in addition to soybeans, corn and barley. Everything from Christmas cakes to beer is impacted.

He adds: “Meanwhile, our goose may be cooked when it comes to ordering our Christmas meal. Even the traditional Christmas goose or turkey is under threat because of record cases of avian flu in the UK.

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