Container shipping lines are shifting more of their all-water services from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to the Suez Canal route, instead of sailing through the Panama Canal.
Trans-Pacific Trade
The trans-Pacific ocean shipping market is by far North America’s largest trade lane, accounting for nearly 20 million 20-foot-equivalent container units in the U.S. trade alone in 2012.
The market is dominated by imports by large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe’s, which, unlike in other markets, tend to contract directly with ocean carriers rather than through forwarders, as is typically the case in the Asia-Europe market. As a result of the one-year contracts that retailers and other large shippers typically sign as of May 1 each year, freight rates in the trans-Pacific eastbound trade tend to be less volatile than in Asia-Europe.
Key developments in the trans-Pacific include the approaching 2015 expansion of the Panama Canal and its potentially huge impact on routing of Asia goods into North America, Canadian West Coast ports’ growing success in attracting U.S.-bound cargo, and West Coast ports’ expected response to these competitive challenges.
Exports moving to those markets typically are lower-value commodities such as wastepaper and scrap that keep China’s manufacturing and packaging industries humming.
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24 May 2013
Nearly everyone knows the United States imports a lot from China (and if you don’t, you’re probably not a regular reader of The Journal of Commerce), but American companies are increasingly exporting more to the Asian manufacturing juggernaut, too.
22 May 2013
Japan’s exports to the United States rose for the fourth straight month in April on a year-on-year basis, surging 14.8 percent to 1.101 trillion yen ($10.69 billion), according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry.
22 May 2013
Trans-Pacific container lines got a reprieve from sliding freight rates this week when they put a general rate increase into effect on May 21, but freight rates are likely to continue to slide in the major east-west trades because some carriers continue to slash rates after repeated GRIs in an effort to gain market share.
16 May 2013
The Japanese economy grew 0.9 percent in the January-March quarter from the preceding quarter, or at an annualized pace of 3.5 percent, in real terms, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report on May 16.
16 May 2013
LONG BEACH, Calif. — As North American container ports compete fiercely for market share, it’s becoming clear that the winners will be those that reliably and efficiently handle mega-ships on the water and land side of the berths.
15 May 2013
Drewry’s Hong Kong-Los Angeles Container Rate Benchmark fell to $1,900 this week, the first drop below the $2,000 per-40-foot-container mark since early March 2012.
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Steven Cernak, chief executive and port director of Port Everglades, and James Hertwig, president of Florida East Coast Railway, discuss their organizations’ recent performance, their partnership in a new intermodal container transfer facility, and the opportunities they see and projects they are pursuing for further growth.
Linda Styrk, Port of Seattle managing director, discusses Harbor Maintenance Tax reform, the competitive environment for U.S. West Coast ports, and environmental initiatives at the port.
CargoSmart’s Director of Sales and Services Graham Collins explains the importance of visibility and early alerts of disruptions to shippers. He discusses the TPM sponsor’s newest efforts to modernize cargo tracking efforts and provide information earlier than previously available.
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