Port Congestion is one. Supply Chain is another
Jan Ernest Go
President and CEO at Ernest Logistics Corporation and Meego Global Ventures
As we approach the 'ber' months, we are faced with the challenges from an old friend that usually happens when Santa Clause is coming to town, when consumers begin to amass funds to spend during the holidays, to buy gifts and enjoy the season; and as the saying goes 'when there is opportunity, business strikes'.
This trend is known as 'Peak Season', the climax of most of industries when demand outmeasures supply, this suggests that there is a signifcant traffic in the movement of goods during this time of the year, which is good though.
But what is not is that in previous months, we have been encountering issues on Port Congestion.
What is Port Congestion and how does it affect your simple life? The answer is very simple, the food on your plate, the laptop your working on right now, the smart phone you have in your pocket, even that tiny ssd card you have, they do not have legs nor feet to walk and just be in your door step. All these things came from somewhere, and somebody has got to do their job to bring them to your home.
The ports whether sea or air, are gateways from origin to destination. These facilites are where sea vessels, and air planes park their huge bodies and load or unload cargoes; when there is Port Congestion, these vessels simply cannot perform their duties as they were designed to do so. They cannot load, or unload the cargoes simply because there are no spaces available at the Port to do that
If we connect the dots, when cargoes are not moving because of Port Congestion, supply drastically goes down, while demand either is maintained or goes up which causes a huge impact, and gap on demand and supply. When this happens, prices go up and up therefore leading to inflation. The only thing that is not going to be affected by the price increase, probably is our salary but beyond that, affected commodities will definitely be more expensive.
This is a serious matter that we, not just the Government have to address. Simply because Port Congestion is just one factor, the entire picture is what we call supply chain and supply chain involves, you, me, the manufacturer, infrastructures, the consignees, the resellers, and definitely the Government.
If we do not act on this now, we will all suffer the consequences of not doing anything and be burdened by the increasing rate of inflation.
The author of this article, Jan Ernest Go, is currently the President and CEO of Ernest Logistics Corporation. For further details about the company, please visit their website at https://www.ernest.com.ph
Logistics Manager Internal Quality Auditor at Keylargo Car Accessories Safety Officer
10 年Come to think of it, port congestion is one way of economic sabotage. Chain reaction from all side of the industries from importers, manufacturer to end user. but still they are talking of giving taxes to peoples bonus.. What a way to start the month of "ber"..
Infra Planning at JAMARI Properties
10 年On a wider perspective, I'd like to view the present congestion of the ports as an "Effect rather than a Cause". Ports has become congested because there are government officials who are remiss to say the least, otherwise, incompetent. There are also government officials who are haphazard in making policy decisions. They are in someways, myopic and fails to see the impact of such ineffective policy for a bigger arena by solving a smaller problem without anticipating a bigger one created. Some of them believed they are the best of the crop. They stand pat for such decision without making adjustment for the error done. This resulted to the slowing down in the movement of goods at the end of the day.
President and CEO at Ernest Logistics Corporation and Meego Global Ventures
10 年Agree to that. If you look at the port area, we have the main road there positioned for trucks and cargoes, this is Radial Road 10. Each lane of R-10, both North and South bound are probably 3-4 lanes wide, the problem is that R-10 has a substantial amount of population surrounding it which should not be there in the first place. North bound lane of R-10, is not yet fully passable because it had become a residential area for people who are not supposed to be there. But instead of focusing on rellocation, and proper 'urban planning', the Government with its LGU focused on immediate restrictions of trucks and cargo service providers which aggravated the consequences of Port Congestion.
Professional background includes commercial leasing management and integrated marketing solutions
10 年Government seems not to care too much. I don't think that they are exerting an acceptable effort to solve the issue.