The late arrival of consignments is a major hindrance currently facing retailers across the country.

The Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation Chief Executive says there has been a delay in shipment that takes up to three weeks.

Kameli Batiweti says most shipments are stuck in the US and China.

“So as a consequence that the containers that were brought in initially to the US are now slow or late in going to the initial places be it Taiwan, China, or any of the Asian Countries. So the delays have been stacked up now. So as the consequence the shipping is delayed”.

Batiweti says companies now have to look for containers to ship their cargo from China into New Zealand and Australia before transiting into Fiji.

He adds businesses will have to come up with new contingency plans as the stocks are running out.