Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential relationship between the cost of shipping containers on international routes and domestic inflation rates.

Record energy prices and supply chain pressures (including shipping costs) have driven inflation up globally. Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation was at a near 40-year high of 9.9% in August. Price pressures have become more widespread since March, with a broader range of items in the CPI basket of goods and services seeing increases that exceed the headline 2% CPI inflation target.

Shipping cost increases have been caused by a combination of pressures from increased demand for goods and from logistical issues impeding shipping from adequately addressing elevated demand - such as port closures, congestion, and operational efficiency. These pressures and resulting elevated shipping prices continue to ease from their post pandemic peaks but remain elevated compared to historical averages.