‘Suppliers can provide if consumers don’t panic buy’, warehouse body says

Suppliers will be able to provide for the public as long as consumers do not continue to panic buy, the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) has said.

Peter Ward, the CEO of the UKWA and a trustee director at the IOE&IT, told Lloyds of London’s daily publication Lloyds Loading List that the “problems are not on the supply side” but that “all issues are being created because of the reactions of consumers who are panic buying”.

The UKWA’s advice follows a cross party letter from MPs to the Government urging food supplies to be safeguarded for the NHS and elderly, and a letter to the public from leading supermarkets calling on people to be “considerate” in how they shop.

“There is enough for everyone if we all work together,” leaders of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Iceland, Ocado and others wrote.

Toy demand surge

As well as food supplies, orders for games and toys have also been surging as the public brace themselves for weeks on end indoors.

Darren Street, the logistics manager at Best Gym Equipment, told Lloyd’s Loading List it is getting hundreds of orders a day, compared to 30 orders on busy days leading up to Black Friday.

March is usually a quieter period for the branded health and gym equipment seller.

However, with many products from several industries manufactured in China, suppliers are likely to start running out of stock as they wait for fresh inventory following the shutdown of factories in China last month.