Logistics manager must be one of the least-envied jobs in the world at the moment after a torrent of news this week about supply chain bottlenecks and warnings of shortages during the festive season.

Dubai is the latest country to sound the alarm, announcing today that all imports into its international airport would be suspended for six days to clear a backlog of unprocessed cargo.

Freight costs have rocketed. The average global price of shipping a 40-foot container is now almost $10,000 — three times higher than at the start of the year and 10 times pre-pandemic levels. Because the world has become so reliant on China for manufacturing, the current problems could last two years, according to the chair of DP World, one of the biggest container port operators.

In the US, the problem is most visible at Los Angeles and Long Beach — the entry point for about 40 per cent of all imported goods — where containers stretch out far into the sea. President Joe Biden has got some big companies such as Walmart, UPS and FedEx to extend their working hours, but round-the-clock operations will still need massive co-ordination between the publicly operated ports and private sector groups such as retailers and freight companies. As our Big Read explains, the crisis has also called into question the value of just-in-time supply chains and re-energised arguments for “nearshoring”, or moving more production to closer locations such as Mexico.

The timing for the US economy is disastrous as the country gears up for the long shopping season that traditionally begins after Thanksgiving in late November. One estimate says the crisis could add another $223bn to US retailers’ costs during the holiday season.

Doing anything it takes to save Christmas is also a major driving force behind UK policy aimed at tackling the supply chain crisis, as Tim Harford explores in this FT magazine essay. Some problems, such as the shortage of HGV drivers, have been exacerbated by Brexit. And although the government’s initial stance was that this was entirely unconnected, it now boasts that the shortage is indeed Brexit-related and that this was the plan all along, Tim writes, adding to the feeling of chaos.

The government has scrambled to find remedies, such as today’s announcement of an easing of restrictions on deliveries from foreign drivers, but the impression remains that prime minister Boris Johnson “is betting that if he gives the UK economy a shock, something will turn up — just as when you give your television a thump, it might work better”.

“It is possible that the result of the chaos will be adaptation, innovation and resilience. But in this case, I am suffering from an acute shortage of optimism,” Tim concludes.

By Darren Dodd - Financial Times