Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1494936
20 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2023 Preparing for a New Normal in Logistics similar to pre-pandemic levels now available in the spot market, but these are all being subsidized by people who bought contract volumes in the contract market. As for contract, I don't know what prices they paid for contract containers, because, although we're a big exporter, we're not in the league of buying contract container traffic. When we were paying $15,000, $16,000, even $18,000 a container, they paid $12,000. ey're still paying $12,000 today, but you can buy a general purpose (GP) container for $1,000—a 20-foot GP container from Shanghai into Southampton—but that's not a real price. at p rice i s o nly a vailable b ecause t he s hips are running 25% empty and they're just selling the spare capacity they have at marginal cost. It's anything to fill that space up, just taking any boxes they can get—and they're still not filling Feature Interview by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 While inflated prices and the supply chain's shi toward Asia have hit the commodities market the hardest, the wider industry is still feeling the squeeze. Flourishing in this "new normal" requires a diverse business approach and a keen awareness of the next big market shi—strengths that have fortified Ventec in the secure position it holds today. Alun Mor- gan, technology ambassador at Ventec, and Mark Goodwin, Ventec's COO, discuss the logistics landscape in a post-pandemic world. Mark, you watch logistics very carefully at Ventec. What are you seeing? Mark Goodwin: ere are a lot of statements in the market that logistics have returned to pre- pandemic normal. My feeling is "yes and no"; they have and they haven't. ere are prices