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Suez blockage shows why free trade flows matter

The huge stranded ship reminded us that even in a world that increasingly lives online, economies still depend on physically moving goods around the globe.

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Few things look more telegenically hapless than a huge stranded ship. The Ever Given and its load of 20,000 container units, now freed after being wedged for six days across the Suez Canal by which most consumer goods pass from the Indo-Pacific to Europe, has been creating fresh supply chain headaches from Adelaide to Antwerp as up to $13 billion worth of goods piled up each day it blocked the passage.

The cargo ship MV Ever Given was stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, for almost a week. AP

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/suez-blockage-shows-why-free-trade-flows-matter-20210328-p57es9