UAE residents still face up to 3-week delays on overseas shopping orders

Dubai: UAE residents ordering products from overseas sellers on platforms such as Amazon, Temu and Shein are increasingly seeing delivery estimates stretch into weeks rather than days as disruptions across Middle East shipping routes intensify.

The delays are largely affecting internationally shipped orders originating from Asia and other overseas fulfilment centres, where retailers rely heavily on global air cargo and container shipping networks to move goods into Gulf markets.

According to shipment tracking platform 17Track, Temu delivery estimates to the region have widened to as much as 20 days from previous averages of seven to 15 days. Shein has expanded its shipping window to eight to 10 days from five to eight days previously. Some internationally shipped products on Amazon are now displaying delivery estimates of 35 to 45 days.

The disruption reflects mounting strain on international supply chains rather than domestic UAE retail logistics, with local fulfilment and UAE-originated deliveries continuing to operate more normally.

The biggest disruption is centred on the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea shipping corridors, two of the world’s most strategically important trade routes.

Commercial container traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been heavily disrupted, forcing shipping companies to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope — a diversion that adds significant time and cost to shipments moving from China and other Asian manufacturing hubs into the Gulf.

Industry logistics data cited in the document shows transit times for sea freight shipments from China to the Middle East have increased from roughly 25-30 days to between 35 and 45 days.

Key regional ports including Khorfakkan Port, Port of Sohar and Jeddah Islamic Port are also facing severe congestion as rerouted cargo accumulates across Gulf logistics hubs.

Air freight capacity has partially recovered, with Gulf carriers restoring roughly 80% of pre-crisis cargo operations, though routes remain vulnerable to sudden security-related disruptions.

“Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will take at least four to six months to normalise,” Tobias Maier, chief executive of DHL Global Forwarding’s Middle East and Africa unit, said this month.

The disruptions are forcing global e-commerce sellers to rethink the rapid-delivery model that helped drive online shopping growth across the Gulf.

More retailers have been increasingly moving inventory into regional warehouses and distribution centres to reduce dependence on direct-from-China fulfilment models.

Alternative logistics corridors using road and multimodal transport through Turkey and neighbouring GCC countries are also being used more heavily, though border congestion and limited trucking capacity remain major constraints.

Bloomberg earlier reported that some Chinese merchants selling through Amazon, Shein and Temu have paused plans to ship new inventory into the Middle East until conditions stabilise. Freight forwarders warned the sellers that both shipping costs and delivery times could double if disruptions continue.

“The Middle East market is a write-off this year,” Huang Lun, a Chinese apparel merchant quoted by Bloomberg, said in the report. “There’s so many layers of risks added to us, with shifting US tariffs, tightening regulation in Europe and now wars in the Middle East.”

The delays are emerging as a challenge for one of the world’s fastest-growing cross-border e-commerce markets.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, citing a Dubai e-commerce report, said online retail sales across the Middle East and North Africa region have grown at an annual rate of roughly 11% since 2022 and are projected to reach $57 billion by 2026.

The Gulf’s young, digitally connected consumer base has become heavily reliant on imported goods, particularly in categories such as fashion, electronics and lifestyle products sourced from overseas sellers.

Industry analysts say the prolonged disruption is exposing how vulnerable cross-border online shopping remains to geopolitical and logistics shocks.

“Conflict in the Middle East is no longer causing isolated disruption — it is sending shockwaves through shipping routes, air freight, insurance markets and energy costs... creating delay, volatility and rising pressure across global trade,” a Dentons global supply chain report said.

For UAE shoppers buying products shipped internationally, the impact is becoming increasingly visible at checkout pages — where next-week delivery promises are being replaced by arrival dates stretching well into the following month.