According to JydskeVestkysten, Nordic companies are experiencing a high increase in freight prices for exported goods from China and Asia because of the pandemic. The Danish interior company IB Laursen is one of the companies which are currently suffering from the sharp freight increase.
Peter Laursen, IB Laursen Director says to Radio 4, that the price of a containerful of goods from China has increased by up to eight times more than what he had to pay before the pandemic and someone has to cover the extra costs.
He explains that the company expects the market to stabilize again in three to four months but in the meantime, the company has had to increase its retail prices by 3-5%. Although the company tries as far as possible not to add the extra expense completely on the customer’s side, he can not deny that part of the increase ends up being added to the price customers have to pay for the products.
Martin Salamon from the Consumer Council Tænk, who acknowledged that it has become more expensive for companies, believes that streamlining can cover the lost profit.
Peter Laursen explains however that as a wholesale company, their biggest expense is freight costs and because of that, the only way of temporarily streamlining the structure would be to cut back on employees or cut down the electricity bill which he does not see as a sustainable solution.
He adds that he does not believe the increase in freight will cause business closures if businesses can manage to stay put and possibly postpone a part of their deliveries for a while until the market is stabilized again.
