In part one, we highlighted 3 of the core logistical problems Malta is facing that are driving up costs. Briefly:
- Reliance on the importation of food
- Issues regarding imports from the UK, Italy and Germany
- over 50% of refined petroleum comes from Russia
Below, we look at 3 other logistical challenges responsible for Malta’s rising prices.
Malta is paying up to 50% more than Tunis for imports from Italian ports
“We accept that fuel went up but why is there no transparency and why are the increases not the same between Mediterranean ports,” David Fleri Soler said.
The lack of an explanation of the increments in relation to market prices has raised suspicion that the situation – and Malta, in particular – is being taken advantage of.
China’s pursuit of zero-rated strategy
Malta already experienced a staggering 1,000 per cent increase in the cost of freight for China imports last year.
Now, the continued outbreak of new variants of COVID-19 has forced the Chinese authorities to instate strict restrictions resulting in the shutdown of major manufacturing units and ports.
This aggressive zero-COVID policy will have a prolonged impact on the global supply chains, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The outcome? A global supply chain crisis that may not go away anytime soon.
Shortage of drivers due to pandemic-induced shortage of foreign workers has escalated labour costs
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic meant that many foreign workers either returned home or went to look for new opportunities elsewhere. But now that the economy is reopening, there are nowhere near enough workers around.
Tomas Mikalauskas, CEO of RecruitGiant, told MaltaToday that the main challenge recruiters are facing in dealing with this shortage is that travel remains difficult.
“This is not helped by the fact that Malta has not been not accepting vaccination certificates from certain countries like India where, pre-pandemic, we had set up training centres specifically to give workers the skills they need to work in Malta,” Tomas continued.
Solutions and conclusions
We don’t like to be a debbie downer, so we’ve written an article that contains simple but tried and tested strategies for Maltese businesses to overcome these challenges.
Meanwhile, if you feel we’ve missed an important problem, or have a solution you’d like to share, please let us know by sending us a message!