Australian shoppers eyeing certain Christmas presents have already missed their chance to get them under the tree, a freight expert has cautioned, because of the global shipping crisis and an unprecedented, punishing backlog at ports.

Supply chain delays and soaring consumer demand have led to shipping containers backing up at Australian and global ports, meaning inordinately long wait times for consumers and making it much more expensive for companies to ship their goods.

That cost trickle-down will hit a variety of products, including food, furniture and clothing, Jackson Meyer, chief executive of Victorian-based freight forwarding firm Verus Global, said.

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Over the coming months, prices on some goods could move "substantially" because of the shipping gridlock, which was now so dire that Mr Meyer predicted it would likely last until early 2023.

The problems began when the coronavirus pandemic first hit China in 2020, and worsened when the giant container ship, Ever Given, blocked the Suez Canal in Egypt for nearly a week earlier this year.

"There's a massive backlog already and there's a huge demand continuing to rise. This is a huge issue," Mr Meyer said.

Months and months of shipping disruptions resulting in part from pandemic-triggered overseas factory shutdowns, port congestion and shipping container and labour shortages have caused delays for all kinds of products.

A series of important forthcoming national holidays and festivals in China will only serve to deepen the crisis, Mr Meyer said.

Some retailers were being "hammered" by the spiralling cost of shipping, he said, and those spikes would inevitably be passed on to consumers.

Mr Meyer said some of his clients had simply stopped shipping altogether.

"This is a first as far as I what know," he said, "and what that means for the Australian consumer is they're not getting their stuff."

Asked what it meant for people set to start their annual Christmas shopping, Mr Meyer said: "I'd say it's probably too late to be honest, particularly with the likes of furniture, beds, TVs, anything that is not kept in Australia and that has to be imported in."

Anyone chasing those items in time for Christmas was now "pushing a very, very fine line".

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Last week three of China's busiest ports were temporarily shut down because of Typhoon Chanthu.

Those closures were yet another setback.

Before Typhoon Chanthu hit, Ningbo's busy Meishan terminal had resumed operations for just 18 days following a two-week lockdown after a vaccinated port worker tested positive to COVID-19.

Mr Meyer said Chinese factories which could not shift product and were now bursting at the seams.

Container ships bound for Australia are also encountering problems at ports in Sydney and Melbourne, which have suffered temporary closures because of workers testing positive to coronavirus.

A French-operated vessel recently skipped its booked Sydney berth because of big delays at Port Botany, and instead sailed straight on to Melbourne, Mr Meyer said.

"They don't want to get hampered by continuous delays," he said.

"These things, even though they may not affect the price of goods right now, they will."

Parcels and post to Australia is also being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week the US Postal Service temporarily suspended some of its mail services to Australia, citing "carrier issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic".

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