A critical shortage of both vessel capacity and available empty containers has arisen during May and  June 2024. The underlying reason is a combination of continued sailing around Africa, bottlenecks in Asian ports and a sudden large increase in cargo volumes from Asia. A critical shortage of both vessel capacity and the availability of empty containers has arisen during May and June.

The underlying reason is a combination of continued sailing around Africa, bottlenecks in Asian ports and a sudden large increase in cargo volumes from Asia. This has resulted in significantly rising spot rates, especially from Asia to Europe and North America. The overall DCFI spot index has risen by 65% in just 5 weeks since the beginning of May. There are in principle enough ships to sail around Africa, but there will be no capacity whatsoever to deal with further problems should they arise.

How does this affect delivery times and availability of order items?

Not much of our furniture is made in Asia anymore, as we have focused on locally produced and environmentally friendly products. But of course, it is still the case that a lot of materials are used in the production of these furniture that are made in Asia, such as fabrics and natural fibers and more. This will have an upward impact on the prices of some of these goods. In the long run, this means that it evens out quickly now and we and our suppliers choose more and more locally produced materials. Our latest addition to this part of our collection is Swedish-made mattress toppers, from a small factory in Småland where the fabric is quilted for the mattresses themselves on site.

Mattress topper in in a custom size of your choice from Österlen inredning.