Suez Canal blockage may cost up to $10 bn due to trade loss: German insurer

A container ship blocking the Suez Canal could cost global trade $6 billion to $10 billion a week, a study by German insurer Allianz showed on Friday.

The study by Europe’s biggest insurer also found that each week of immobilisation shaves some 0.2 to 0.4 percentage points off annual trade growth.

“The problem is that the Suez Canal blockage is the straw that breaks global trade’s back,” the study’s authors wrote.

“First, suppliers’ delivery times have lengthened since the start of the year and are now longer in Europe than during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The length of delivery times in the United States was twice as bad, the study said, as inventories are depleted on expectations that President Joe Biden’s massive stimulus package will boost demand.

The Suez Canal stepped up efforts on Friday to free the giant stuck container ship and end a blockage that has sent shipping rates for fuel tankers soaring and disrupted global supply chains.