Insights by Auba (Sept 20th): Supply Chain Slavery & News Round Up

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Your go to newsletter for all things logistics, nearshoring, and supply chain (all with original research from data department to wherever you get your news!)

How Slavery Impacts Supply Chains Today

Modern trade has a complicated secret to tell: the prevalence of supply chain slavery. Yes, as you read it. Although we might think of slavery as a thing of the past, data suggests millions of people today still work in slave-like conditions and might even be fueling the supply chains of some of the biggest companies today.

The issue has been largely ignored in discussions focused on efficiency and connectivity, but there has been a recent shift. This year, the EU introduced legislation allowing member states to investigate and potentially ban products produced with slave labor. With this new regulation, the EU joins a handful of countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, and Mexico, that have laws against slave labor. These countries, although few in number, represent 47% of global GDP. Therefore, utilizing slave labor can risk access to nearly half of the world economy.

Since there are no real estimates on the impact of slavery today, Walk Free took an ingenious approach by using representative household surveys across a sample of 75 countries. With such efforts, they are able to estimate that, in 2024, some 49.6 million people are working in slave-like conditions, where they work without receiving any form of compensation for their labor. All of which we’ve mapped below, showing the estimated number of people living in modern slavery by country:

Read more below:

The Week in Short

?? As a potential port strike on the US East and Gulf coasts looms, container shipping lines like MSC, CMA CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd have announced surcharges of up to $1,500 per container to mitigate the anticipated disruptions. Experts warn that if the strike occurs, it could severely affect supply chains, especially in Asia (more on Load Star).

??? And speaking of the strike, while the US East Coast fears disruptions, West Coast ports, particularly Los Angeles and Long Beach, are seeing record-breaking cargo volumes due to diversions. In August, the Port of Los Angeles handled nearly 961,000 TEUs, a 16% increase from last year, while Long Beach set a new record with 913,873 TEUs, up 34% year-over-year. (more on Sea Trade Maritime).?

?? Maersk, the world's second-largest ocean freight carrier, anticipates strong global demand for container shipping into the fourth quarter, driven by robust imports to North and Latin America and strong exports from the Far East. Global container volumes grew 6.6% year over year in Q2, with notable import gains of 10.5% to North America and 15.6% to Latin America (more on Freight Waves).

???? Brazil, the world's top sugar exporter, is grappling with widespread fires in its sugarcane fields, pushing sugar prices up by 4.2%. About 1.8 million tons of sugarcane—around 2% of the 2024-25 yield—have been impacted, raising concerns over the future of the sugarcane industry (more on Supply Chain Dive).

?? Shanghai’s container terminals are experiencing significant disruptions after Typhoon Bebinca, the strongest since 1949, caused vessel bunching and delays expected to last over a week. Ships are now facing wait times of 36-60 hours to berth in Shanghai, and similar delays are affecting nearby Ningbo (more on Load Star).

?? Alaska Airlines is set to finalize its $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines after securing approval from the Department of Transportation, with the merger potentially closing as soon as Wednesday. The deal strengthens Alaska's position as the fifth-largest U.S. airline (more on Freight Waves).

That is all for this week, but make sure to follow Auba to stay up to date on all things supply chain and logistics