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PSA Article: Possible shortage of toilet paper because of Shipping Container shortage

Lanny

By Lanny,
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DoraBora

DoraBora

Posted
Posted (edited)
47 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

I feel like that article is going to be enough to cause a shortage. 😩

Me too.  Do we import much tp?

ETA  I see.  It's raw materials and shipping crates they're worried about.  

Edited by DoraBora
Couldn't see most of the posted article.
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prairiewindmomma

prairiewindmomma

Posted
Posted

I should caveat that, while production is domestic, I'm not exactly sure on the wood pulp sourcing.  But, I think it's largely domestic as well.  

Honestly, if they could get the west coast docks flowing again and deal with that shipping container backlog dealt with maybe that would ease the situation talked about in the above article. *laugh cries in 2021*

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Terabith

Terabith

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Posted

Because of the hive, I started thinking about stocking our pantry before the pandemic hit, and we were actually super well supplied when the pandemic hit (since toilet paper keeps well and I have a terrible memory, it turned out in addition to the 12 pack I had bought and put in the house, there was a 12 pack in the trunk of each car).  And we had signed up for a subscription for delivery of sustainably produced bamboo toilet paper shortly after the toilet paper crisis of 2020 hit.  You tell them how many people in your family there are, and they send you a box however often they think you'll need one.  Except, apparently we use WAY less toilet paper than this company thinks we should.  WAY less.  I just deferred my next box by 8 weeks, because I still have two full boxes of like 36 rolls.  

I have enough toilet paper to give it as gifts to all my friends and neighbors.  Which I may do, if there really is another toilet paper crisis.  It comes wrapped in adorable polka dotted or striped paper.  It's pretty cute, actually.  

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SKL

SKL

Posted
Posted

My first reaction was:  "oh crap."  Poor choice of words ....

I guess I'm glad I overstocked due to an over-generous monthly subscription.  But I cut the subscription back recently, so here's hoping I won't regret that ....

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Ausmumof3

Ausmumof3

Posted
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I think the stuck ship in the Suez Canal won’t help with the container shortage.  I reckon anything that will be needed urgently in the next four weeks is worth buying now.  Apparently the shipping line that owns the stuck ship has redirected at least one ship which is a good indication they don’t expect it resolved in the next 24 hours.

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Corraleno

Corraleno

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Posted

Apparently the shortage of shipping containers is a combination of (1) China having severely cut back on manufacturing them last year when orders dried up and (2) a huge backlog of containers that went from Asia to the US but have not returned to Asia.

Since China recovered from covid much earlier than the US, manufacturing there was back to full capacity quite quickly and they resumed shipments of goods to the US. But because of continued lockdowns/slowdowns/layoffs in the US, not only have there been big delays in processing and unloading the containers, there also isn't enough product to ship back. So there is a huge backlog of empty containers in the US — one article said that for every 100 containers that currently arrive in the US, only 40 are returning to Asia. And although China has ramped up production of new containers as much as they can, they can't produce them fast enough to make up the shortfall.

Here are a couple of article about it if anyone is interested in reading further:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-16/shortage-of-new-shipping-containers-adds-to-global-trade-turmoil
https://www.hillebrand.com/media/publication/where-are-all-the-containers-the-global-shortage-explained

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PaxEtLux

PaxEtLux

Posted
Posted

I'm not a regular reader of fox or fox business, but I'm really struck by the content of this article.  It reads like it was written at a fifth grade level, with one sentence per paragraph, there's very little content or analysis, and not a single quote.  There's no original reporting in the article, it was completely cribbed (with attribution) from the Bloomberg article here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/toilet-paper-is-next-likely-victim-of-world-s-container-crisis which has much more details, original reporting and quotes.

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Starr

Starr

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, Terabith said:

It comes wrapped in adorable polka dotted or striped paper.  It's pretty cute, actually.  

I have friends that are using blue prints from work and the like for wrapping paper. I've been thinking these toilet paper wrappers could be used for wrapping paper from time to time. lol. And the "You deserve a donut" circle. 

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Amy in NH

Amy in NH

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, Terabith said:

Because of the hive, I started thinking about stocking our pantry before the pandemic hit, and we were actually super well supplied when the pandemic hit (since toilet paper keeps well and I have a terrible memory, it turned out in addition to the 12 pack I had bought and put in the house, there was a 12 pack in the trunk of each car).  And we had signed up for a subscription for delivery of sustainably produced bamboo toilet paper shortly after the toilet paper crisis of 2020 hit.  You tell them how many people in your family there are, and they send you a box however often they think you'll need one.  Except, apparently we use WAY less toilet paper than this company thinks we should.  WAY less.  I just deferred my next box by 8 weeks, because I still have two full boxes of like 36 rolls.  

I have enough toilet paper to give it as gifts to all my friends and neighbors.  Which I may do, if there really is another toilet paper crisis.  It comes wrapped in adorable polka dotted or striped paper.  It's pretty cute, actually.  

We buy the same cute bamboo toilet paper brand as you! 

It's great stuff...  and I did give away a few rolls as gifts during the TP shortage last year.

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prairiewindmomma

prairiewindmomma

Posted
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3 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chips-shortage-appliances-idUSKBN2BL0ZY
 

Just to add to this rather than starting a new shortages thread, it looks like the chip shortages is going to start impacting on production of white goods as well.

Yes, this has already been an issue here in the States for some months. Automobiles, televisions, mobile phones, gaming consoles, smart appliances....they are all affected.

I have had to buy a new refrigerator and a new dishwasher since covid and shopping is a nightmare. It's honestly been like, "Tell me what you have in stock so I can see if I have any choices."

--------

Yesterday I hit this with hiking boots.....We wanted to try on in store as hiking boots really need a perfect fit.  Daughter had two choices to choose from.  Husband had one.  The specialized hiking store normally has 20-30 choices in hiking boots. We ended up sizing up a half size in husband's boots so he could get something that fit properly through the arch.  I can't say that this is anything new; I had similar problems when I went to buy slippers last fall at a similar specialized store that normally has lots of choices.  

 

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Arcadia

Arcadia

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Just to add to this rather than starting a new shortages thread, it looks like the chip shortages is going to start impacting on production of white goods as well.

The difficulty with chips is that it is not just a raw materials shortage issue but also reliability, quality control and cost issue. Taiwan is still leading in this area.

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Ausmumof3

Ausmumof3

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Yes, this has already been an issue here in the States for some months. Automobiles, televisions, mobile phones, gaming consoles, smart appliances....they are all affected.

I have had to buy a new refrigerator and a new dishwasher since covid and shopping is a nightmare. It's honestly been like, "Tell me what you have in stock so I can see if I have any choices."

--------

Yesterday I hit this with hiking boots.....We wanted to try on in store as hiking boots really need a perfect fit.  Daughter had two choices to choose from.  Husband had one.  The specialized hiking store normally has 20-30 choices in hiking boots. We ended up sizing up a half size in husband's boots so he could get something that fit properly through the arch.  I can't say that this is anything new; I had similar problems when I went to buy slippers last fall at a similar specialized store that normally has lots of choices.  

 

We just paid about more than we would have for a second hand car early last year as well, prices are up because of delays with manufacturing.  
 

I’m beginning to realise how much I don’t know about how the world works.

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prairiewindmomma

prairiewindmomma

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

We just paid about more than we would have for a second hand car early last year as well, prices are up because of delays with manufacturing.  
 

I’m beginning to realise how much I don’t know about how the world works.

I am paying $700 to repair a $500 dishwasher because I can order parts but not a dishwasher with the specific height that I needed. (And, yes, I checked not only Lowe's, Home Depot, but also ALL of the local stores within a 200 mile radius that I could find a website or phone number for.)

Edited by prairiewindmomma
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Arcadia

Arcadia

Posted
Posted

@Ausmumof3@prairiewindmomma

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-texas-chipmakers-samsung-elec/samsung-electronics-texas-chip-production-returns-to-near-normal-levels-idINKBN2BM0Z8
“SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that production at its U.S. chip plant at Austin, Texas had returned to near-normal levels as of last week after more than a month of disruption that exacerbated a global chip capacity crunch.

Samsung and other chipmakers with production facilities in the area had seen shutdowns due to severe weather on Feb. 16.

Samsung declined to comment on when production would be fully back to normal.

The disruption will have a definite impact on the global chip contract manufacturing industry that is already battling a severe capacity crunch, research provider TrendForce has said.

Qualcomm 5G radio frequency chips and Samsung display and image sensor chips account for about 65% of the monthly production at the Samsung plant, TrendForce added.

Other chips include power management integrated circuits (PMICs) and a small amount of chips that control electrical parts, Seoul-based analysts said.

The disruption is expected to hurt production of smartphones globally over the April to June period by about 5% and may lower this year’s penetration rate of 5G smartphones, TrendForce estimated.

“This was a problem because it exacerbated a worldwide foundry capacity shortage. But at least it won’t get worse as production resumes,” said Park Sung-soon, analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.

...

Earlier this month, NXP Semiconductors NV said it expected an impact of about $100 million of revenue from its Texas production shutdown.

German chipmaker Infineon said it expected a quarterly hit to revenues in the high double-digit million euro range from its Texas plant outage.“

 

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Amy in NH

Amy in NH

Posted
Posted
On 3/29/2021 at 6:09 PM, kand said:

Has anyone been using bamboo toilet paper with a septic system for a significant length of time? We used bamboo at our previous house, but I stopped when we moved to a house on septic, because the reviews seemed iffy to me and I'm not willing to put something into the septic system that isn't tried and true for not causing any problems. I'd rather use a more sustainable type of TP though (we do use cloth a lot as well, but not for everything).

Yes, we have a septic system and have been using bamboo tp for a few years.  No problems.

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Arcadia

Arcadia

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:
related - this suggests shipping disruptions will continue till June.

We could not find any 1.5kg Milo (chocolate malt drink) cans for a few weeks now at Asian supermarkets. Could only find the 400g Milo  cans. Would not be surprised if goods from SE Asia comes to the California ports in drips and drabs. 

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Acadie

Acadie

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 3/29/2021 at 6:04 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

Yes, this has already been an issue here in the States for some months. Automobiles, televisions, mobile phones, gaming consoles, smart appliances....they are all affected.

I have had to buy a new refrigerator and a new dishwasher since covid and shopping is a nightmare. It's honestly been like, "Tell me what you have in stock so I can see if I have any choices."

--------

Yesterday I hit this with hiking boots.....We wanted to try on in store as hiking boots really need a perfect fit.  Daughter had two choices to choose from.  Husband had one.  The specialized hiking store normally has 20-30 choices in hiking boots. We ended up sizing up a half size in husband's boots so he could get something that fit properly through the arch.  I can't say that this is anything new; I had similar problems when I went to buy slippers last fall at a similar specialized store that normally has lots of choices.  

 

We ordered a new couch and only after I paid the deposit did they say it could take up to 6 months!

This winter, I couldn't find XC skis within a 100 mile radius of my house, and it threw me for a loop emotionally. I don't think of myself as into consumerism, but after all the stress and losses of this year a stupid shopping fail was the straw that broke the camel's back.

As if the skis represented all the freedom and joy and physical wellbeing I longed for during a pandemic winter.... 

Edited by Acadie
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