Far Eastern auto traders got burned at the Angara
But for the car market of the Far East as a whole, the forecasts are disappointing, since the incident with a sea fire could affect both delivery times and freight prices, as well as the cost of spare parts.
As Oktagon.Vostok wrote earlier, on June 27, the domestic ship Olkhon went to the aid of the Angara. On June 29, journalists managed to contact Japan Auto Lines (JAL), whose representative explained that the ship was still being extinguished.
– “Angara” is in Japanese waters, “Olkhon” helps to extinguish the ship. There are no other comments yet,” the company told Octagon.Vostok.
In comments on social networks, representatives of JAL, communicating with the owners of the transported cars, indicate the likelihood that some of the cars could have survived. The interlocutor of Oktagon.Vostok from among Primorye auto traders, who wished to remain anonymous, agrees with this.
– According to unverified information, the loss of cargo is not one hundred percent. There are rumors that there are cars that survived or were partially damaged. But there are few of them,” the autotrader said.
He, like other representatives of the automotive business, is confident that the cause of the fire is negligence. The Japanese newspaper Hokkoku pointed out that one of the used cars in the cargo hold caught fire. It is possible that the fire could have occurred due to the so-called sawing, when cars are sawn right on board in order to reduce the cost of importing a car into the Russian Federation. At least, it is this version that is being discussed in autotrader circles.
The owners of the burnt-out cars are promised to be reimbursed for the cost of their vehicles, since they were all insured.
As a result, the market will suffer the most damage from the Angara incident, traders believe, since JAL is one of the largest freight carriers in the Far East transporting Japanese cars.
The company’s work has already slowed down for two weeks, and this will affect both the cost of freight and the prices of cars and auto parts, the Octagon.Vostok interlocutor believes.
– In the context of the already extremely high risks associated with the purchase, payment and delivery of cars, a burned-out vessel for 570 vehicles will obviously not add optimism to the market. The already long delivery times will increase even more, the already high freight prices will become higher, and the increased risks will inevitably be taken into account in the final price of the goods,” the auto trader said.
The interlocutor of Octagon.Vostok explained that on June 28, letters were received from all carriers about the suspension of accepting applications for the export of all types of collapsible equipment for an indefinite period. It is expected that the spare parts market will react with a two-fold increase in prices in the near future.
