Shipping rates from U.S. to Middle East spike

New shipments of nuts and dates from the U.S. to the Middle East have largely stopped due to the war with Iran that began on Saturday.

“Sunday morning, we were told about the shelter in place order in the Middle East so all the bookings via the Jebel Ali port were cancelled,” says Bikram Hundal of Custom Almonds LLC., who exports almonds, pistachios and walnuts to the region.

However, he says some shipping lines are capitalizing on the events. “We got information from some shipping lines regarding a 100 percent rate increase. Rates increased overnight and they are calling it a “war risk surcharge (WRS),” he says, adding that another line is calling it “Emergency Conflict Surcharge” (ECS). The surcharge is being applied to shipments via the Upper Gulf, Arabian Gulf and Persian Gulf.

So now with shipments that were destined for the port halted, there’s great uncertainty as to what will happen next. “Some people are saying that shipments already enroute are rerouting to other ports because Jebel Ali is closed right now. Some are going to African ports and some are going to ports in China,” Hundal says.

© Custom Almonds LLC
^{With nut shipments that were destined for the port halted, there’s great uncertainty as to what will happen next.}

Port as a trading hub
He also notes that buyers are asking that new shipments to the port be halted for now. “Jebel Ali is a trading hub so there, shipments get transferred to neighbouring countries including Iran. Everything is just suspended right now,” Hundal says. “So we are just watching and waiting.”

In turn, he also adds that pricing has softened for almonds, walnuts and pistachios.

At Double Date Packing, which ships dates to the Middle East, Hope Barbee says that the events there have affected a high movement time for dates–namely, the Muslim religious holiday of Ramadan and the Jewish religious celebration of Purim.

“Currently, there is product that is not able to ship due to the airspace being closed with all flights cancelled. In addition, product that had shipped is on hold in multiple countries awaiting a way to get to the Middle East,” says Barbee.

For more information:
Bikram Hundal
Custom Almonds LLC
www.customalmonds.com

Hope Barbee
Double Date Packing
www.doubledatepacking.com