TORONTO -- When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the immediate health crisis was just the first of a long line of problems that tech company Voltera had to overcome.
Voltera's experience is similar to what other Canadian tech companies faced as the pandemic upended global manufacturing processes, shipping times and supply chains. Experts are predicting it will take years to clear the shortage of semiconductors, known as chips, that emerged when people purchased more gadgets for their increased time at home, factories closed to quell the disease, a Japanese plant was engulfed by fire and a Texas facility was shut down by a cold snap.
"And the container price itself is only a part of our total shipping cost," said David Coode, the chief executive officer at Sera4, a Waterloo industrial keyless lock company. To add to the headaches, one of the world's busiest cargo ports, Ningbo-Zhoushan in eastern China, partially closed in recent weeks to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak, causing port delays many expect to stretch into next year.
Those who were willing to pay those prices also had to contend with a lack of capacity because fewer commercial planes in the air during lockdowns meant less space for goods.
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