Attacks in the Red Sea: Ikea warns of delivery delays, even shortages of certain products

The situation is inextricable. While tensions in the Red Sea remain high, the Danish shipowner Maersk and other maritime transport leaders, the German Hapag-Lloyd, the French CMA-CGM, the Italian-Swiss MSC have in turn suspended all transit in the Red Sea. And international trade is starting to seriously suffer from the situation. Large groups whose products are mainly produced in China and Asia are the first to be affected. This is the case of Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant, which has just announced that the blockage of the Red Sea risked causing delays in the delivery of certain products, or even shortages.

“The situation in the Suez Canal will cause delays and could even be the cause of unavailability on certain Ikea products,” the parent company of the Swedish group, Inter Ikea Group, expressed alarm on CNN, explaining that the “main priority” was above all to ensure the safety of its teams. “We are in close dialogue with our transport partners to ensure the safety of those working in our transport chain and to take all necessary precautions to ensure their safety,” the group said.

Also read: Tension on oil, longer journeys... World trade affected by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea

Inter Ikea Group said it was considering new delivery options to ensure the availability of its products and fulfill its orders. In the meantime, the company wants to be reassuring about the smooth delivery of its products handled by “transport partners”, and indicates that it does not own any container ships. However, she assures that she is continuing to monitor the situation.

Described as the “motorway of the sea”, the Red Sea connects the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and ultimately, Europe to Asia. An essential trade route, with around 20,000 ships passing through the Suez Canal each year, another entry and exit point for ships passing through the Red Sea. According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), 12% of world trade passes through this intercontinental sea. But largely affected by Houthi attacks.

As a reminder, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants have said they are striking ships in the Red Sea in revenge against Israel. Over the past month, the latter have launched no less than a hundred attacks against a dozen different commercial and merchant ships sailing on this “highway”. Nearly fifty countries around the world have been affected in one way or another by these attacks. It remains to be seen whether the coalition launched by a dozen of them, including France and the United States, will succeed in easing tensions.