Strikes appear in Germany and South Korea, what's the effect

Local time on Jun 9, Verdi, Germany's largest service industry union, announced that there would be a strike at Germany's five largest ports. In support of the ongoing labor negotiations between the terminal union and the port operator. In addition to Hamburg, Germany's largest container port and Europe's third-largest container port, the German ports of Emden, Bremen, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven were also affected by strikes. There were already 150,000 containers waiting for shipment at German ports, and the strike would further exacerbate the situation.

The strike is expected to increase operational problems and cause more delays and shipping schedule changes, once again affecting all other European ports in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Poland and so on.

In addition, South Korea also saw intensified strikes. 25,000 freight truck drivers requested that the government freight rate system be extended to guarantee basic wages to cope with rising fuel costs. The price of fuel and the cost of living have soared this year. Truck drivers have to pay more for diesel than ever before, but their freight has not risen, and their income was hit hard.

So far, the impact seemed to be limited, with all 12 South Korean ports operating as usual as of 10:00 local time on Wednesday (8th). HMM, South Korea's largest shipping company, said there were no major disruptions for the time being. South Korean media said that although not all drivers took part in the protest, South Korea's exports of steel, plastics, consumer goods and other goods could slow if the demonstration lasted for several weeks.