Manufacturing and Supply Chain Expert Lisa Anderson, president of LMA Consulting Group Inc. discusses the economical impact the stuck cargo ship had on the global economy.
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The Ever Given cargo ship was grounded in the Suez Canal for over six days, causing an enormous backup in one of the world’s major trade routes. The story dominated news headlines and viral claims swirled on social media about the ship’s impact on the world economy.
On Monday, the vessel was finally freed. The VERIFY team talked with supply chain experts to find out how much economic damage took place over the past six days.
Did the global economy lose $400 million an hour due to the grounding of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal?
We can VERIFY this claim is true. Paul Hong, Professor of Global Supply Chain Management at the University of Toledo, and Lisa Anderson, founder and president of the supply-chain consulting company LMA Consulting Group, agree the number is actually about $416 million per hour.
Since the grounding of the Ever Given cargo ship on March 23 in the Suez Canal, media outlets have widely reported that this traffic block in one of the world’s busiest trading routes was costing the global economy $400 million per hour.
According to supply chain experts Paul Hong and Lisa Anderson, about $10 billion worth of trade flows through the Suez Canal daily. That’s about $416 million an hour.
That’s a huge economic impact, on top of an already strained supply chain due to the novel coronavirus and significant weather events, among other factors.