The impact of inflation on cargo crime can be seen in the latest Annual Cargo Theft Report from TT Club, TAPA EMEA and BSI SCREEN Intelligence. It shows an overall decline in global incidents over the previous year but with increasing emphasis on basic goods, food and beverages, fuel and auto parts.

The salient conclusions of this year’s report are a consistent level of theft from facilities; an increase in container and trailer theft; a global reduction in hijackings; and an easing of international losses from unsecured parking and from areas adjacent to port facilities.

The report found evidence that inflationary trends effect black market demand for more basic goods and that food and beverages, and that auto parts and fuel are increasingly targeted; while high-end electronics remain a frequent target.

The over-arching trend is for criminals to adapt to inflation and lessened port congestion and evolve more fraudulent methods of targeting specific goods.

“Our report explores these themes in more detail by way of case studies that look at how social unrest in Latin America, particularly Chile, Peru and Brazil, has provided a weakness exploited by thieves,” said Mike Yarwood, managing director or loss prevention at TT. “Also, how in South Asia crime involving fraudulent practices, like fictitious pickups to target cargo, are manifest.”

Of the increases in various types of commodities stolen, the report's authors identified a significant year-on-year rise in the number of fuel thefts recorded in the region, one of the most prominent trends recorded.

Thorsten Neumann, president and CEO of TAPA EMEA, said this trend was clearly driven by the impact of the war in Ukraine on global oil prices and the cost-of-living crisis affecting consumers globally.

"We gathered intelligence on fuel losses in 28 countries across EMEA, but mostly in Germany and the United Kingdom, which accounted for 72%. Higher value fuel crimes also signalled the involvement of bigger organised crime groups, notably thefts from fuel depots,” he added.

Image courtesy: Port of Dover

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