What Impact Will Strike at Britain’s Busiest Container Port Have?

More than 1,900 workers at Britain’s biggest container port, Felixstowe,

have begun eight days of strike action that will cause disruption to trade and

supply chains.

The staff at Felixstowe, on the east coast of England, are taking

industrial action in a dispute over pay, becoming the latest workers to strike

in Britain as unions demand higher wages for members facing a cost-of-living

crisis.

Below is a look at Felixstowe’s operations and the possible impact from the

strike:

How big is the port?

About 48% of all containers brought into the UK are transported through the

Felixstowe port, according to the Unite union, making it an important import hub

for Britain.

Britain’s biggest and busiest container port, and also one of Europe’s

largest, Felixstowe handles more than 4 million ‘Twenty-foot Equivalent Units’

(TEUs) of goods and 2,000 ships arriving each year, according to its

website.

Its container handling capacity is forecast to double to 8 million TEUs by

2030.

What goods pass through Felixstowe?

Felixstowe imported 37.4 billion pounds ($44.2 billion) worth of goods last

year, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) online data

platform.

In 2021, its top imports included toys, data processing machines, and

wooden and metal furniture, according to OEC data. During May this year, the

main imports were furniture, computers and automotive parts.

At 9.12 billion pounds ($10.8 billion), the port’s exports amounted only to

about a quarter of its imports, OEC data showed. Exports during May this year

included pharmaceutical products, scrap aluminum and copper.

In May, China was both the top origin and destination country for most

goods transported through Felixstowe.

Where do imported goods go from the port?

About 70% of containers transported through Felixstowe are delivered, via

road and rail links, to a region in the middle of Britain known in the logistics

trade as the “golden triangle”.

The triangle, which is within a four-hour drive of 90% of the British

population, is home to the national distribution centers of many of Britain’s

high street brands and retailers including Tesco, Asda and Marks and

Spencer.

What trade could be affected by the strike?

The strike could disrupt more than $800 million in trade including in

clothing and electronic components, causing trade to be diverted to smaller UK

ports as well as international ports including Wilhelmshaven in Germany, risk

management firm Russell Group said.

The disruption spells more uncertainty for businesses, consumers and

governments and could exacerbate shipping congestion and backlogs caused by the

coronavirus pandemic, Suki Basi, Russell Group MD, said.

What impact can consumers expect?

Paul Davey, the head of corporate affairs at Hutchison Ports, the Hong

Kong-based operator of Felixstowe, said that while local haulage firms would

lose money from the strike, consumers around the country would not see a big

impact.

“Most of the containers… are coming from the Far East. They are on long

supply chains,” he told ITV on Monday. “It will be an impact but not

massive.”

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said the retailer was monitoring the

situation closely and had contingency plans in place to ensure products were

available.

Retailers will try to reroute freight through other container ports or use

alternative transport to ensure products remain available, said Andrew Opie,

director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium.