Chinese goods are getting more expensive in Serbia – When will prices jump?

Products that arrive in Serbia from China will most likely become more expensive, because the price of transport has risen drastically and is three times higher compared to the same period last year.
The critical shortage of shipping containers led to this jump, as well as delays in deliveries from that country. What percentage will affect the price of Chinese goods in retail? Importers in Bosnia and Herzegovina have estimated that the increase in their market will be from 20 to 25 percent, Novosti writes.
The owners of Chinese goods stores in Serbia say that everything depends on the wholesalers.
“We have not yet bought goods that arrived in more expensive containers. We don’t know what will happen, it all depends on the behavior of the wholesalers. If they raise prices, then so will we,” they point out in a Chinese department store.
Miroslav Mihic, from a company that deals with mediation in finding and sending goods from China, estimates that consumers will certainly have to pay more for products that come from that country, if this situation lasts.
“The price of transport from China is higher towards the whole world, and not only towards our country, and the reference data from the FBX site, which monitors the container transport index, show that it is now three times more expensive compared to the same period last year almost 6,000 dollars per container,” states Mihic.
When transportation becomes more expensive, someone has to bear those costs. These can be suppliers, traders or consumers. In some situations, this burden is borne by wholesalers and retailers by reducing their margins to retain customers.
However, smaller companies will not be able to bear that cost. In the end, companies will decide what is best for them.
The price of transport jumped, because, as Mihic explains, there are no containers.
“China produces and exports goods that go in containers, but they do not return, because the rest of the world does not have that much placement on the market of that country, and that is how difficulties arose,” he says.
Mark Jaeger, CEO of Redwood Logistics, states that compared to March last year, the prices of container transport from China to Europe and the United States increased by 300 percent. He points out that spot prices go up to approximately 6,000 dollars per container, compared to the usual tariff of 1,200 dollars, Sputnik News reports.