More than half of British retailers and exporters suffered losses due to the Houthis

According to British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) estimates cited The GuardianMore than half of UK retailers and exporters have already been hit by disruption to maritime trade caused by Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. BCC obtained this data through a survey of more than 1,000 UK companies, mainly small and medium-sized businesses. The losses are mainly due to delivery delays and increased transportation costs due to route changes.

BCC trade policy director William Blaine called on the British government to support local businesses. According to him, for now, many companies can take advantage of the excess capacity of sea carriers to compensate for the negative effect of the Houthi attacks. But if the attacks continue, the additional costs could increase inflationary pressure on the British economy.

The British and US authorities are already taking measures to strengthen security in the Red Sea. Last weekend, the forces of these countries inflicted strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen – mainly on weapons and fuel warehouses.

Houthi attacks on commercial ships have become one of the reasons for the rise in prices of smartphones, tablets and laptops, more about this in the Kommersant article “Electronics surfaced in the Red Sea”.

Evgeny Khvostik