Port News

Forwarders expect congestion and container shortages to worsen in the next few weeks as carriers redeploy vessels to trans-Pacific services from Asia-Europe trades to meet increased demand from shippers.

Greater interplay between US drayage and truckload markets may appear as imports fluctuate due to shifting tariff deadlines, but little impact is expected on pricing.

Industry backlash mitigated the costliest components of the US Trade Representative’s proposed fees, but surcharges from some carriers are still likely on the way, writes Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Rates are climbing quickly amid fresh Chinese volumes headed to the US, with an expected crunch in vessel capacity and the potential for port congestion driving the gains. 

The canal agency highlighted data that refutes Trump administration claims about unfair treatment at the waterway, while the International Chamber of Shipping said freedom of navigation is a global responsibility.

On top of the persistent pressure of overcapacity and muted demand, industry sources have also linked the market softening to the historical seasonal pattern of the Indian export trade.

The predicted rush to get US imports from China on the water has begun as shippers take advantage of the 90-day cut in tariffs, according to CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.

The investment will increase the Port of Caucedo’s capacity by 24% while expanding an adjacent Free Trade Zone, the terminal operator said.

Much of the volume that has been locked up over the past month will come flooding back into the market after Washington and Beijing agreed to significantly slash their respective tariffs for 90 days.

Despite a ceasefire announced over the weekend between India and Pakistan, the combined impact of the recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols has left container supply chains out of India’s west coast corridor in a state of flux.

The tight supply of warehousing for frontloaded freight is diverting truck shipments as shippers reposition inventory.

Sources anticipate the additional rerouting costs in the region will force other ocean carriers to follow suit on similar surcharges.

The world’s largest shipping company said Wednesday the service suspensions and network changes were “in response to the recent changes in demand for cargo transport from Asia to the US.”

PSA BDP acquired a majority stake in Mexico-based forwarder ED International, expanding PSA’s cross-border forwarding network.

The freeing up of vessel capacity that has been diverted around southern Africa for the past 18 months could inject as much as 2 million TEUs of functional capacity into the global container shipping market.

Interest in FTZs, where shippers can store goods while deferring the payment of duties, has increased dramatically since President Donald Trump implemented tariffs in April.

The restrictions have “effectively” made direct vessel calls to either Karachi or Port Qasim on India services operationally impossible, according to major container lines.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach complex, which handles about half of all US imports from Asia, is so far due to experience 59 blanked sailings between May 1 and June 30.

A range of factors including full yards, labor unrest and carrier network changes are making it difficult for the hubs to clear container bottlenecks.

With demand expectations faltering, carriers have either jettisoned or substantially lowered the increases they were planning to implement beginning May 1, forwarder sources tell the Journal of Commerce.

National drayage providers experiencing a sharp decline in orders as US tariffs come into effect now warn that a second-half rebound could be just as disruptive.

US ports and support infrastructure such as warehouses and rail connections aren’t better equipped to handle import surges than they were during the pandemic when record volumes drove congestion to historic highs, carrier executives said this week.

Direct services to Asia and the EU have pulled more resin cargoes away from Houston, but the Gulf Coast is still the main route to the South American market.

Container lines saw a first-quarter demand boost from US shippers eager to bring in cargo before the April implementation of the Trump administration’s tariffs.

The issue of transit time variability in Latin America has downstream impacts for projects, with forwarders often having to get creative to figure out workarounds due to unforeseen delays.

With far fewer US-bound goods leaving Chinese docks, carriers have accelerated the raft of blank sailings and service suspensions that began earlier this month, sources tell the Journal of Commerce.

The flagship of Santos Brasil is Tecon Santos, the largest container terminal in South America with a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs that will soon be expanded to 3 million TEUs.

F. Paul De Maria will become the new CEO of the group representing ocean carriers and marine terminal operators at East and Gulf coast ports.

The companies say it is important to be agile with capacity deployment if there is a significant decline in volumes crossing the docks at Los Angeles and Long Beach amid the trade conflict with China.

The carrier said its Gemini Cooperation alliance with Maersk is not resorting to blanked voyages to deal with the downturn, but it did redeploy ships to deal with demand changes.

Shippers and ocean carriers told the Journal of Commerce they are reviewing the USTR actions to estimate how the fees will flow down to freight costs.

But executives at both northern range hubs highlighted the extreme volatility of the first three months and the US tariff-driven uncertainty that lies ahead.

The increase in blank sailings coincides with the Port of Los Angeles’ expectation that container volumes will plunge 14% month over month in week 18 and 38.6% in week 19.

Apparel importers are concerned that tariffs on China will do harm given more than 4 out of every 10 shipments of the product come from China.

In addition to various ongoing supply chain disruptions that US agricultural shippers face, they must now contend with the highly volatile tariff environment that is forcing them to seek new markets for their products.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) laid out actions to counter China’s maritime dominance that could put Cosco Shipping and subsidiary OOCL on the hook for millions when their ships call the US.

Carriers in the specialized cargo sector are designing contracts that would shift the cost of the US’ possible tax on Chinese tonnage to heavy-lift and project cargo shippers.

Multiple sources who spoke with the Journal of Commerce say Chinese exporters facing demand headwinds in the US due to soaring tariffs will likely attempt to dump inventory stocks in other markets, with India widely viewed as a key target.

A lawsuit filed this month by the port authority claims the council’s recent rezoning of industrial land could eventually lead to the development of residential units and an increase in vehicular traffic in the harbor area.

The export decline is already showing up in some data, with bookings for US exports to China for the week of April 8–15 down 5.4% from the prior week.