H&M and PVH supply chains could be hit by Suez blockage

When the Ever Given ship was refloated at the end of March its 6-day delay caused a backlog of 370 ships according to Reuters.

The congestion will have a rolling effect on supply chains, which may be felt for months to come.

Insights from S&P Global suggest U.S. East Coast imports from western India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Middle East are likely to be the most exposed to the closure of the Suez Canal. Leading importers in the U.S. who are potentially exposed to such routings include apparel and retail firms H&M and PVH, with 5,215 20-foot and 2,580 equivalent units (TEUs) respectively, shipped in the 12 months to February 28. Retailers more broadly may also feel an impact, with shipments of 11,780 TEUs linked to Walmart, said the Market Intelligence agency.

The disruption of Ever Given’s grounding will also be broadly felt in Europe, suggest S&P, as the ship was scheduled to sail from mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia to the Netherlands (Rotterdam), Germany (Hamburg) and the U.K. (Felixstowe) before returning in mid-April.

Image: Satellite photo of Container Ship ‘Ever Given’ stuck in the Suez Canal, by Pierre Markuse via Wikimedia Commons; Article Source: S&P Global