"Port congestion and a shortage of container shipping capacity may last into the fourth quarter or even mid-2022," said Hsieh Huey-chuan, president of Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine Corp., the world's seventh-biggest container liner, at an investor briefing on Aug. 20. "If the pandemic cannot be effectively contained, port congestion may become a new normal." The cost of sending a container from Asia to Europe is about 10 times higher than in May 2020, while the cost from Shanghai to Los Angeles has grown more than sixfold, according to the Drewry World Container Index. The global supply chain has become so fragile that a single, small accident "could easily have its effects compounded," HSBC Holdings Plc. said in a note. Higher freight rates and semiconductor prices could feed into inflation, said Chua Hak Bin, senior economist at Maybank Kim Eng Research Pte. in Singapore.