Far Eastern auto traders got burned at the Angara
However, the outlook for the car market in the Far East is not promising. The sea fire incident could impact delivery times, freight prices, and the cost of spare parts.
As Oktagon.Vostok previously reported, on June 27, the domestic vessel Olkhon went to help the Angara. On June 29, journalists were able to reach Japan Auto Lines (JAL), whose representative explained that the ship was still being extinguished.
“Angara” is in Japanese waters, “Olkhon” is helping to extinguish the ship. There are no other comments yet,” the company told Octagon.Vostok.
In social media comments, JAL representatives, while communicating with the owners of the transported cars, suggest that some of the cars may have survived. An anonymous source from among the Primorye auto traders, agrees with this.
“According to unverified information, not all of the cargo has been lost. There are rumors that there are cars that survived or were partially damaged. But there are few of them,” the autotrader said.
He, like other representatives of the automotive business, believes that the fire was caused by negligence. The Japanese newspaper Hokkoku pointed out that one of the used cars in the cargo hold caught fire. It is possible that the fire could have occurred due to the so-called sawing, when cars are dismantled on board to reduce the import cost into the Russian Federation. At least, this version is being discussed in autotrader circles.
The owners of the burnt-out cars are assured that they will be reimbursed for the cost of their vehicles, as they were all insured.
Traders believe that the Angara incident will cause the most damage to the market, as JAL is one of the largest freight carriers in the Far East transporting Japanese cars.
The company’s operations have already slowed down for two weeks, and this will impact both the cost of freight and the prices of cars and auto parts, according to the Octagon.Vostok source.
“Given the already extremely high risks associated with the purchase, payment, and delivery of cars, a burned-out vessel carrying 570 vehicles will obviously not bring optimism to the market. The already long delivery times will increase further, the already high freight prices will rise, and the increased risks will inevitably be taken into account in the final price of the goods,” the auto trader said.
The Octagon.Vostok source explained that on June 28, all carriers received letters about the suspension of accepting applications for the export of all types of collapsible equipment for an indefinite period. It is expected that the spare parts market will react with a two-fold increase in prices in the near future.
