Trampoline prices ‘to soar 50% on shipping costs’

Soaring shipping costs are likely to cause a bounce in the cost of trampolines in the UK this summer, according to one games retailer.

James Owen, owner of Outdoor Toys, says high transport costs and port congestion may mean larger toys such as swings, trampolines and climbing frames will be more expensive.

Trampoline prices could soar by 40-50%, he told BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money.

“The port congestion just keeps snowballing,” he said.

“More and more issues keep arising,” Mr Owen added. “We can’t get space out of China, there’s a container shortage.

“Hauliers are really stretched, rates keep climbing.”

His firm makes some products in the UK already and rising shipping costs will mean it will become economical to make more.

“For the first time ever, the ocean freight outweighs the cost of the item,” in some cases, he said.

Demand for Chinese goods has soared around the world in recent months, placing a strain on existing shipping capacity.

The price of shipping a 40-foot container on major world trade routes has almost tripled since a year ago, according to research firm Drewry.

Hauliers in the UK are also charging more. It used to cost about £650 to haul a container from the port of Felixstowe to the company’s site in mid-Wales, Mr Owen says.

The cost is now up to £1,800 per container “if you can get the haulier to take it,” he says.

Whether people will pay the premium for a new outdoor toy is “a good question,” he said.

It emerged over the weekend that Irish hauliers are bypassing Welsh ports to avoid Brexit bureaucracy.

So-called “teething problems” with new export rules are causing “enormous strain on staff”, according to one haulage company.

But others warn of a longer-term shift by truck firms from using Holyhead, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock.