Germany’s chemical industry – Europe’s largest – is suffering due to delays in shipments travelling through the Red Sea, where tensions have arisen due to attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on commercial dry cargo ships.
Reuters writes that crucial Asian imports to Europe, ranging from car parts and engineering equipment to chemicals and toys, are now suffering delays as container shippers divert ships around Africa – away from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
As noted, Germany’s chemicals sector is the country’s third largest industry after automobiles and mechanical engineering, with annual sales of about €260bn.
Henrik Meinke, chief economist of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), said that the impact of the situation is particularly noticeable in “medium-sized fine and speciality chemicals companies”.
As it became known earlier, owners of ships, mainly oil tankers, are expecting tensions to intensify with shipping disruptions in the Red Sea.