Firm says it is weighing up options to secure product availability amid Yemeni rebel attacks on shipping
Ikea has warned that the disruption to global trade caused by Yemeni rebel attacks in the Red Sea could delay its deliveries and affect availability of some products.
The world’s largest furniture company said it was “evaluating other supply options to secure the availability of our products” after many big shipping companies stopped sending vessels through the Suez canal in response to the attacks by Houthi militants’ protests against the Israel-Gaza war.
On Monday, the oil company BP joined the sea freight firms Evergreen, OOCL, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd and the Mediterranean Shipping Company in suspending operations in the key waterway linking the Indian Ocean with Europe.
By Wednesday, more than 100 container ships had been rerouted around southern Africa to avoid the area, a trip that adds about 6,000 nautical miles to a typical journey from Asia to Europe and potentially three or four weeks to product delivery times.
