In the world of the coronavirus have you gone to your local grocery store and noticed that the items you were looking for that are usually there, aren’t anymore?
This isn’t just a local issue for you, grocery stores and other types of stores across the country are experiencing supply shortages because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, while mostly everybody was inside during the lockdowns, there was lower consumer demand and reduced industrial activity. This led to shutdowns of industries around the world. Industrial giants such as China, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Germany were hit hard by the spread of coronavirus cases. Many factories in these places had to shut down or were forced to reduce production because workers were sick or in lockdown.
But as soon as lockdowns started to lift around the U.S. and the rest of the world, demand for supplies and items rose quickly.
Today supply chains that were heavily affected by the pandemic are still facing huge challenges and are struggling to bounce back. This has led to “chaos” according to a CNBC article, manufacturers and distributors of goods cannot produce or supply as much as they did pre-pandemic.
Cabrini University and students have also been affected by the supply chain shortages.
“It was more of a struggle for my family and friends’ families to get the simplest supplies such as cleaning supplies and toiletries,” Samuel Geathers, a sophomore chemistry major said. “I had trouble getting certain supplies for moving onto campus this fall.”
Geathers along with many other Cabrini students have or know of other people having trouble buying the simplest of supplies whether it be at the store or online.
The Los Angeles industrial shipping hub being backed up is another major factor as to why there has been a supply chain shortage affecting the United States. According to a New York Times article, before the pandemic, ships typically arrived at the shipping hub and immediately began unloading their goods. Due to a logjam, ships have been forced to line up at sea for days.
President Joe Biden announced that his administration has reached a deal to keep the Port of Los Angeles operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This deal was made in hopes of clearing the massive logjam affecting the Los Angeles industrial shipping hub and to “save Christmas.”
While some people are hopeful this issue will be solved soon, there are some having doubts. Steve Pasierb, the president and chief executive of the Toy Association, said that no political intervention will solve this supply chain issue and that the issue is “going to last well into next year.”
According to Chris Jones, senior vice president of Government Affairs and Counsel of the National Grocers Association, shopping early for the holidays might be a good idea.
For those planning on having a big Thanksgiving or Christmas and who need to do a lot of shopping before then, shopping early for the holidays might be a good idea. You never know the sort of troubles you’ll run into with this supply chain issue still being a major problem.
