David Dodwell

Inside Out | Post-pandemic global supply chain turmoil might still ruin Christmas

North American rail and port woes are adding to a long list of challenges facing global shippers, while China is developing new trade routes

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Railway freight trucks loaded with shipping containers sit idle near Roberts Bank Superport in Delta, British Columbia, on August 23, amid Canadian railway labour disputes. Photo: AFP

David Dodwell

Published: 8:30pm, 25 Aug 2024

It seems not a week goes by without fresh reminders that the global supply chains underpinning international trade remain in turmoil, riven by an angst that has persisted since Covid-19.

Most recent is the turmoil across North America’s railway network as Canada’s Teamsters union members threaten to bring trains to a halt. Canada’s rail network is among the largest in the world, and accounts for movement of about 75 per cent of the country’s exports, or goods worth around US$740 million a day, not just to and from major ports like Vancouver, but also into the United States.

Its smooth operation is critical to food trade and to delivery of commodities such as fertiliser, timber, iron ore, cement, coal and potash. The Financial Times, with only a hint of breathlessness, warned: “Strikes threaten ‘earthquake’ in US supply chain before Christmas season”.

The disruption compounds supply chain challenges worldwide that have, since Covid-19, dramatically raised freight rates, forced changes in supply routes, and provided fuel to protectionist forces that are calling for “onshoring”, “near-shoring” and other “de-risking” measures.

There is still hope for Canada’s rail network. The government intervened last Thursday, ordering the unionists and Canada’s two main rail companies into arbitration. But the union has responded by calling for a 72-hour strike from Monday.