AGS Global Solutions has advised clients with goods in storage in the Gulf to reconsider delaying shipments, as the Middle East crisis continues to keep freight rates elevated.
In a newsletter to customers, CEO Albin Porquez said many of its customers had initially chosen storage in the belief that the conflict would be short -lived and shipping rates would soon ease. With the crisis now in its seventh month, he added, some have paid more in storage charges than it would have cost to ship goods at the outset.
‘For clients facing this decision now, we are transparently advising that storage may be the more expensive option long term,’ he said. ‘Spot rates on all routes are still well above pre-crisis levels and continue to rise for shipments to the US. Even once the crisis resolves, analysts expect rates to take months to normalise, as carriers reposition fleets, ports decongest and bunker pricing corrects.’
Porquez said clients should compare the likely total cost of continued storage and eventual shipping against the cost of moving goods now, and consider the certainty of budgets and how urgently customers may need access to their belongings.