The Australian consumer watchdog said the current global supply chain crisis is putting “intense pressure” on Australian exporters and importers, meaning people planning to import Christmas gifts should finalise their purchases early. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report 2020-21 revealed that a number of Australian exporters are currently struggling to meet their contractual obligations. Some large retailers were also resorting to buying their own shipping containers and chartering their own vessels to ensure their cargo would arrive by Christmas. One stevedore told the ACCC that only 10 percent of vessels arrived in their designated berth windows in 2020-21, the lowest rate on record. However, the issues with Australian port inefficiency began long before COVID-19, which only worsened the situation. The ACCC cited a World Bank and IHS Markit study that ranked Australia’s largest container ports, Melbourne and Sydney, in the bottom 15 percent and 10 …