(Natural News) Ocean freight rates have climbed for the third consecutive month in April, this time by 11.1 percent. The increase now stands at 109.9 percent year-over-year. According to the International Monetary Fund, there is a correlation between the volatile global shipping costs and ongoing inflation. Data from 143 countries over the past 30 years […]

(Natural News) The global shutdown over COVID-19 affected every aspect of the world economy and those reverberations will be felt for years to come in the way of shortages and delays. And in no industry is this being felt more than the manufacture of computer chips — components that are vital in literally every aspect […]

(Natural News) The Chinese government is run by authoritarian Communists, but one thing is certain: The regime there takes care of its own people when the chips are down. In America, we had a president recently who did the same thing — looked after Americans first and foremost — but he was so hated for […]

(Natural News) There’s scarcely a place in the modern world that will not be feeling the high cost and discomfort of a shortage of energy supplies and their increasingly soaring prices. Lebanon already is. Due to a shortage of oil, the two power plants that supply 40% of that country’s electricity shut down. There is no electricity […]

(Natural News) The global supply chain is in complete tatters. Tens of thousands of items and services are in short supply or can’t be found at all. This is leading to higher prices, a/k/a cost-push inflation, and a general decrease in the purchasing power of all fiat currencies, be it the US Dollar, the Japanese […]

(Natural News) Workers who make the global supply chain function are warning that it is extremely close to falling apart because of a combination of lingering COVID pandemic shutdowns and shortages of workers and staff along the way. “Several industry groups have warned world leaders of a worldwide supply-chain ‘system collapse” due to pandemic restrictions, coming […]

(Natural News) A global transport systems collapse looms due to the lingering impacts of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In an open letter, a coalition of unions that represent shipping workers across the globe warns of the imminent collapse as fragmented and inconsistent pandemic restrictions around the world toss international shipping into chaos. The shipping workers write: “We are witnessing unprecedented […]

(Natural News) Global supply lines continue to come under duress as lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic remain and as new shutdowns occur thanks to the spread of the delta variant. “The vast network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world is badly tangled, and the cost of shipping […]

(Natural News) For weeks we’ve been warning about a coronavirus-induced supply chain disruption that was only going to get worse before it gets better. Well, over the past 48 hours, the situation definitely got worse. Much worse. On Monday Natural News reported that Western supply chains were already in peril thanks to a combination of worker shortages, […]

(Natural News) A report found that the British government spent “hundreds of millions” of pounds procuring “potentially unsuitable” personal protective equipment (PPE). The National Audit Office (NAO) released a report in November that said around one percent of PPEs the government purchased in response to the coronavirus pandemic – amounting to 195 million items – […]