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When we wrote in late August about the widening gulf in shipping costs between big companies and smaller ones, a reader asked if there was a difference between the cost of shipping to mainland Europe and to the UK.
In short, the answer’s yes.
The chart below is based on rates charged for deliveries to some of Northern Europe’s largest ports — specifically, Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, Le Havre and Rotterdam — for goods arriving from the Far East, and cargoes making the same journey but docking in either Felixstowe, London Gateway Port or Southampton. Throughout 2021 it has consistently been cheaper to chip to continental Europe than the UK.
Xeneta only began recording mainland Europe and the UK as two distinct groups at the turn of this year — the reason being that before the end of 2020 there was little, if any, difference.
When it comes to shipping…