INEOS Aromatics is Solving COVID Related Disruptions with a Break Bulk Cargo Solution

As we all know and understand by this point, the COVID-19 crisis has caused significant and far-reaching damage to the business of moving products around the world and, despite most countries attempting to return to some semblance of normality, the problem isn’t showing any signs of going away soon.

Various countries moving in and out of lockdown restrictions through 2020 and 2021 has robbed global logistics of the two factors it relies on to work – predictability and precision. Repeated shutting down and restarting of operations has decimated the way logistics operates and it’s taking significant effort to keep goods moving.

The Scale of the Issue

A shortage of shipping containers, rising shipping rates for certain routes, congestion at international ports railroads and inland rail terminals, and the trucking and chassis shortage already being felt across the industry, all conspired to compound the problem.

Across the Atlantic, US importers experienced delays in receiving key manufacturing components and exporters faced challenges accessing containers and getting bookings on shipping vessels.

The cost of shipping goods from China to the west coast of the US has increased 13-fold compared to pre-COVID prices. Shipping in the other direction has only doubled in price, but you don’t need us to tell you which of those two the west relies on more these days. Due to shortages, container prices have nearly doubled in price to approximately $6,000 dollars – twice what they cost in 2016.

And let’s not forget the impact the Great Resignation is having on the logistics industry’s ability to fill roles at almost every level of its operations, from truck drivers to port workers.

INEOS Aromatics

One brand in the chemical space working hard to solve the logistics issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic is INEOS Aromatics – part of the INEOS group – and it’s been deploying a method of shipping known as break bulk delivery or break bulk cargo.

“The international supply chain remains disrupted by the COVID pandemic, resulting in an increase in marine freight costs and corresponding reduction in ship and container capacity,” said INEOS Aromatics in a press release. “A new model called break bulk delivery was needed to overcome the logistics constraints and ensure that combined with supply from INEOS Aromatics’ European team, the total needs of the customer would be met.”

During a time of increased shipping costs and fewer more expensive cargo containers, break bulk delivery can be used to find alternative methods of packing goods for transport. Cargo which cannot fit into standard sized shipping containers or cargo bins is broken down and transported in alternative ways which are more flexible. Bags, drums, barrels, or even simply hoisting the item onto the ship without any container are all ways break bulk delivery can simultaneously solve the shortage of containers and the increased cost of shipping items.

On 25th September 2021, a cargo ship carrying 8,000 tonnes of INEOS Aromatics’ purified terephthalic acid [PTA] set sail from China’s Zhuhai Gaolan port as part of a pilot scheme to assess the potential for break bulk delivery to address some of the challenges of the COVID-19 related logistics crisis. The ship was destined for the Middle East where it would deliver the break bulk cargo to an INEOS Aromatics customer in the region.

“INEOS Aromatics in Zhuhai pulled together a cross-functional team of colleagues from across sales, logistics, production, and packaging, who worked closely with customers, ports, agents and carriers to overcome the shortage of berth and storage at the port, while preventing the further spread of COVID,” continued the chemical company in its press statement. “Ensuring custom regulations were strictly complied with, they set about improving the loading efficiency. The result is a successful break bulk export trial run, with plans to do more in the future.”

INEOS Aromatics’ PTA is used all over the world by the polyester industry to manufacture items such as clothes, carpets, and food packaging, which only serves to demonstrate how essential it is that we in the industry work to solve the ongoing supply chain crisis.

Final Thoughts

With COVID-19 infections continuing to wax and wane across the globe, we are likely to see these supply chain challenges continue for the foreseeable future. Extreme times require extreme thinking, and it takes innovative ideas such as deploying break bulk cargo to overcome them.

Thanks to the successful trial conducted by INEOS Aromatics it seems break bulk delivery is a viable means of solving some of these challenges and it’s therefore likely we’ll see the practice increase in popularity in the future.

Solving the COVID-19 shipping crisis is set to be a keynote topic at LogiChem 2022, being held in March at De Doelen ICC Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Download the agenda today for more information and insights.