Global transport company Mainfreight says international shipping companies are charging sky-high premiums to carry freight, which is driving up the cost of imported goods.
The Mainfreight Don Braid managing director says the cost of shipping a 40-foot container of goods has been inflated by up to as much as $8000 more than the standard contract price, negotiated pre-pandemic.
He says the company has been passing that cost on to its customers, which is in turn being passed on to their customers and so on.
Braid expects it will go on for at least 12 months, with large United States-based customers preparing for the price gouging to go on for perhaps up to four more years.
