SUPPLY chains are set to face continued uncertainty in 2024, on the back of geopolitical and environmental risks. Companies and consumers should prepare for disruption, but hopefully be in a better position to handle surprises – thanks to hard-earned lessons learnt from the pandemic years.

Recent attacks in the Red Sea have raised fresh fears of shipping delays. Since the eruption of the Israel-Gaza conflict in October, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have increased their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.

Major shipping companies such as Maersk were forced to avoid the Suez Canal – which accounts for over a tenth of the world’s shipping traffic – and go on a much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope. As a result of the conflict, ports in Singapore and Malaysia could come under “massive pressures”, one veteran shipping analyst has warned.