Patterson O'Connor Motorcycles owner Brian Patterson says fortunately a new shipment of bikes has arrived. Photo / Andrew Warner
Patterson O'Connor Motorcycles owner Brian Patterson says fortunately a new shipment of bikes has arrived. Photo / Andrew Warner
Christmas shoppers are advised to get in early this year as the disruption to the supply of goods because of Covid-19 could make some gifts scarce and drive up retail prices.
Some sectors say the disruption and subsequent delays are the worst they have experienced and Retail NZ fears thesituation could "derail" some outlets because of lower margins.
The situation is expected to get worse in the lead-up to Christmas as experts predict some goods will be in short supply and advise consumers to get their orders in early.
Retail New Zealand chief executive Greg Harford said nationally stock shortages were being reported across many categories.
These included apparel, footwear and accessories, bicycles, books, appliances, sporting equipment, carpets and hard flooring, furniture and furnishings, electronics, musical instruments, jewellery, arts and craft supplies, plants, seeds, and toys.
The supply chain issues were partly caused by reduced freight capacity coming into New Zealand from overseas, and congestion at the Ports of Auckland and Tauranga, he said.
"Retailer confidence has improved markedly over the course of the year, and retailers will be hoping for a strong Black Friday and Christmas shopping season to round out the year. Retailers can only sell goods that they have, however, so the supply chain challenges have the potential to derail that."
Patterson O'Connor Motorcycles owner Brian Patterson, of Rotorua, said the whole "industry is pretty bad" and "it's the worst we have ever seen it".
Patterson O'Connor Motorcycles owner Brian Patterson says supply chains were constrained. Photo / Andrew Warner
Fortunately, the business had just received a shipment of 15 new bikes and some had been pre-sold but he expected issues would continue into 2021.
Bike sales were down 70 per cent last month compared to the same time last year "simply because we couldn't get the stock".
Parts were also hard to source, which had made the job a lot harder.
"Every time someone comes in to price something up there is always something that is not available and then you have to find it."
The business was fielding calls from around the country every day.
"So if you do tend to get something it disappears quickly and then you are out of stock again, but it is what it is and we are just trying to carry on."
Damar chief executive Chris Bradley said Covid-19 had meant it was hard to get ahead of the game and long lead-in times meant the disruptions were still there.
"Some of our raw materials have very long lead-in times of up to six months and we are pulling from a lot of geological locations including Europe and Asia but the reality is the disruptions are still there."
Meanwhile, costs to fly and ship freight had increased. So, too, had some products; one hand sanitiser ingredient had soared by 500 per cent.
"So we have had a lot of shocks and the difficulty is not knowing how long that will continue."
However, Damar had focussed on restructuring its supply chain and had kept all its customers.
Damar Supply Chain manager Christine De Vries (front) with her team. Photo / Andrew Warner
Supply chain manager Christine De Vries said it had a good supplier base, which was part of the solution.
"I think that has kept us out of dire straights ... but we are suffering from the same port constraints as everybody else.
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said New Zealand was a small player on the world stage and disruptions were expected to continue for some time.
"We have seen several businesses with supply chain issues. There doesn't appear to be much of a pattern and businesses are affected in different ways and circumstances."
A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said Covid had caused major disruption in the global supply chain, causing shipping delays, cancellations and capacity constraints.
The current delays in the Upper North Island supply chain were primarily because of severe congestion and capacity problems at the ports in Auckland and Sydney, she said.
"We have seen record amounts of both import and export cargo diverted through Port of Tauranga, which has put immense pressure on the rail capacity between Auckland and Tauranga. We have been working with KiwiRail to clear the backlog and are managing cargo flows through volume caps to ensure we make the most of the available rail capacity."
Mainfreight Ltd branch manager Lance Chadwick said it had not slowed down since Covid and volumes were well up.
However, congestion at the ports affected logistics and that flowed through to the whole supply chain.
"It hasn't really affected us as we do road transport from Auckland and it's mainly the importers who are suffering because they can't get their products to onsell."
Air New Zealand Cargo general manager Anna Palairet said the freight industry had been through a period of significant disruption with border restrictions around the world.
Since Air New Zealand started flying under the International Air Freight Capacity scheme on May 8, it had done more than 950 return flights, carrying more than 33,000 tonnes of cargo in and out of the country.
Imports during the past three months from Asia had jumped by 29 per cent and the USA was up 17 per cent compared to last year, she said.
"At the moment, goods being imported into New Zealand is a mixture of technology and electronics, machine parts, apparel, e-commerce and mail."
Domestically, the airline had transported 14 per cent fewer kilograms in the past three months compared to last year because of flying restrictions and a reduced domestic schedule.
