Shops are rushing to stock up for Christmas as…

European retailers are rushing to place Christmas orders as rising shipping costs and trade route disruptions threaten holiday shipments, experts say.

For the last few months, ships belonging to Western companies have been attacked in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels supporting Hamas in the war with Israel, leading ship prices to rise.

Container prices, which peaked in January and briefly declined, have rebounded in recent weeks.

One business told the BBC that the increased costs are likely to hit the prices of big-ticket items such as white goods.

Nick Glynn, head of the Buy It Direct group, owns a number of online retailers including Appliances Direct and Laptops Direct, which have to plan and order well in advance to ensure deliveries arrive on time.

Because they are planning ahead, he said he does not think Black Friday and Christmas savings will be affected.

But he said: “It’s an impact on cash and warehouse as suddenly you have to store things for longer. You can’t risk ordering later.”

Mr Glynn explained that the spot rate – the current price for direct delivery of goods – had increased significantly in recent weeks from $4,500 to $7,500 (£3,500 to £5,900).

“This has a big impact on very large items, especially those with low margins such as furniture, barbecues, and kitchen appliances,” he said.

“There’s no way” most online retailers can absorb those price increases for big-ticket items, he said.

“So unfortunately for consumers, the next few months will see a significant increase in these big-ticket items,” he said.

The disruption caused by Yemen’s Houthi movement has limited the global supply of space and containers.

Houthi rebels have launched attacks on more than 50 ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

As a result, shipping costs have increased. The average cost to ship a 40ft container now exceeds $4,000, a 140% increase from 2023, according to freight market tracker Xeneta.

Peter Sand, Xeneta’s chief analyst, said importers had learned many lessons from the pandemic including that “the easiest way to protect your supply chain is to ship your goods quickly”.

“That’s what we’re seeing with some businesses telling us they’ve shipped their cargo for Christmas – in May,” he said.

Typically, retailers start importing goods for November’s Black Friday sales and the Christmas shopping season between late summer and fall.

Sue Terpilowski, of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, agreed, saying companies were aware that disruptions to Red Sea routes caused by Houthi attacks could last until the autumn.

“To avoid the headlines of ‘Christmas cancelled, nothing in store’, people are now sending deliveries,” he said. “So they’re coming in good time to make things happen when they’re at sea.”

Attacks on ships have forced owners of boats traveling between Asia and Europe to take a longer route around Africa, and boats start their journey earlier to allow for the extra time needed for diversion.

“The effect of the diversion from the Red Sea that started last December is only now visible, with vessels in the Asia-Europe trade needing more than 100 days in rotation by going around Africa,” said Dominique Nadelhofer, of Kuehne + Nagel, a major marine logistics company.

He added that the rotation of container equipment has also been disrupted, saying that only about 50% of global container ships are now completed on time.

As well as concerns about possible future Houthi attacks, there are also fears that as naval forces focus on fighting Houthi rebels, reducing maritime patrols elsewhere could give Somali pirates an opportunity to increase their activities.