The war has cut off logistics in the Middle East, e-commerce has stopped accepting goods, express delivery has stopped, shipping has skyrocketed, and sellers have fallen into delivery difficulties.

As the conflict between the United States and Iran continues to escalate, the logistics system in the Middle East is deteriorating at an unexpected rate. The Strait of Hormuz was "effectively closed", many international routes were blocked, and important infrastructure was attacked...

The spillover effects of this geopolitical conflict have been rapidly transmitted to cross-border e-commerce and global logistics chains, and Chinese sellers and Middle Eastern consumers are feeling the impact firsthand.

“I just called two friends in Iran, but no one answered the phone.” A seller with an annual revenue of 1 billion in the Middle East market described the current tense situation. On the other side, a freight forwarder has urgently notified customers: "The cabinets will be returned empty first and will not be packed yet. The situation is unknown."

Amid uncertainty, cross-border e-commerce platforms were the first to respond. Logistics data platform 17Track shows that the estimated delivery time of Temu's Middle East route has been extended from about 15 days to a maximum of 20 days; Shein's delivery time has also been adjusted from the original 5 to 8 days to 8 to 10 days. It is reported that the two platforms have suspended the warehousing plan of new goods sent from China to the Middle East and will resume after the regional situation stabilizes.

Middle Eastern consumers have clearly experienced logistics delays. According to local media surveys, many residents reported that the goods they ordered on platforms such as Shein, Temu, and AliExpress experienced delays in delivery, rescheduled delivery, and even order cancellations.

Amazon's delivery delays in the Middle East are even more severe. According to Agence France-Presse, Amazon has extended the delivery time by at least 10 days, and the estimated delivery time of some products has even reached 35 to 45 days. What is even more worrying is that three data centers of Amazon's AWS in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were damaged by drone attacks during the conflict, causing widespread disruption of local core cloud services, affecting Careem and many local banks. Affected by fires and flooding, related facilities were severely damaged. Amazon is making emergency repairs and recommends users to migrate data to other regional nodes. After the incident, Amazon has closed its Abu Dhabi distribution center and completely suspended local delivery services.

At the same time, according to the latest news from CNBC, Amazon has temporarily closed all physical offices in the Middle East, requiring all employees in the region to switch to remote working and strictly follow local government guidelines.

International express delivery giants have also been severely impacted. UPS, FedEx, and DHL have successively issued warnings: Affected by the cancellation of a large number of commercial flights, many countries in the Middle East have suspended pickup and delivery services, and the timeliness of packages in transit will be significantly delayed.

SF International also issued an announcement saying that in view of the recent intensification of geopolitical risks in the Middle East, international flight capacity and local logistics resource allocation have been severely disrupted. In order to protect the personal and property safety of relevant parties, the company has decided to suspend international express delivery and e-commerce services in many countries in the Middle East from now on. This move is expected to have a short-term impact on the recent cross-border commerce and personal delivery between China and the Middle East. The specific recovery time will be notified separately.

Although shipping has not been completely suspended, both cost and timeliness are under pressure. Many shipping companies, including CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and Mediterranean Shipping Company, have successively announced the suspension of Middle East bookings and added emergency conflict surcharges and war risk surcharges to cargo passing through the Middle East routes. Leading shipping companies such as Maersk have redirected all routes to the Cape of Good Hope, resulting in a significant lengthening of the overall voyage and transportation cycle.

The logistics impact brought by the war in the Middle East is undoubtedly severe, but for sellers who are deeply involved in cross-border e-commerce, this is both a challenge and a screening process. Sellers who can stabilize their position and respond rationally will seize the first wave of market dividends after the situation stabilizes. After all, the globalization trend of cross-border e-commerce will not be changed by a conflict.

Faced with the multiple pressures of blocked logistics channels in the Middle East, e-commerce platforms suspending delivery, express delivery service interruptions, and rising shipping costs, relevant cargo owners and freight forwarding companies must remain highly vigilant and pay close attention to the development of the situation and the latest announcements from major platforms and carriers.

It is recommended that companies communicate with customers in a timely manner, re-evaluate order fulfillment cycles, and reasonably adjust shipping plans. For shipped goods, it is necessary to proactively track the status of goods in transit and make plans in advance to deal with delays or diversions.

At the same time, transportation costs and risk exposures under the current situation should be carefully assessed to avoid greater losses due to lagging information or insufficient preparation. Until the situation becomes clearer, it is recommended to postpone shipments to high-risk areas and prioritize ensuring the overall security and stability of the supply chain.