Americans rushing out to buy fireworks for the Fourth of July this year are going to find a limited selection and higher prices — or empty shelves.
From toilet paper to beef, shortages and snarled supply chains have been a major side effect of the pandemic since lockdown stockpiling sent lines of shopping carts around stores and emptied shelves in March of 2020. Now it’s fireworks supplies that are fizzling.
Fireworks face unique shipping issues because only a handful of shipping lines currently accept them. Of them, only so many ships are available — and of those ships, only a limited portion of their cargo space can be allocated to material classified as hazardous, such as fireworks.
So, what kind of prices and inventory can you expect?
More Business and Market Updates
High gas prices aren’t going away any time soon
The markets are closing out with a winning first half of 2021 and second quarter
Key inflation indicator posts biggest year-over-year gain in nearly three decades