Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) has said that increasing container freights would push the overall cost of domestic goods in international markets, which would make it less competitive and hurt the country’s exports.
The new records have been hit in container freight spot rates of all carriers and further rise is expected this month.
In a statement, the Council said, “The industry is worried that if this situation persists, there can be a 5 per cent to 8 per cent increase in the cost of goods from India. This will have an impact on exports too due to equipment shortages or shipments will be postponed due to very high ocean rates. Demand for Indian products will slow down due to high cost.”
It is pertinent to mention here that during pre-Covid times, cost out of India to North America was on average US $ 1,800 per 20 feet container, which has now touched around US $ 6,000.
Time and again, various trade bodies of apparel and textile industry have also raised this issue and so far there’s no solution for this issue.
In some of the hubs, apparel exporters are now forced to send their goods by air. And this is having very negative impact on their business.
Source : https://in.apparelresources.com/