North American ports

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Virginia continues to add infrastructure to its marine terminals as part of the port’s plan to handle mega-max vessels once dredging is finished late in 2025.

Some ships are leaving China just half-full as the Trump administration’s rush of tariffs sends shippers into contortions about what to do with their freight.

From an international supply chain perspective, the plan that could hit Chinese-made and -operated ships with fees in excess of $1 million per US port call could have impacts as profound as the current tariff controversy.

A full evaluation of on-time performance will not be possible until July once the transition to the new deep-sea services has been completed, but data for February and March is positive for the Maersk/Hapag-Lloyd alliance.

The executive order signed Wednesday falls short of providing any details on the proposed port fee plan but directs stricter collection of existing harbor maintenance fees.

And the chilling effect of the tariffs is extending further down the calendar, with forwarders in the trans-Pacific saying US retailers are holding off making purchase orders with factories in Asia for fall and holiday merchandise for 30 to 60 days.

Inclement weather, the lingering effects of labor disruptions and a January surge in imports contributed to the fifth consecutive month of excessive rail dwells at Canada’s largest port.

Eighteen Republican members of Congress said the remedies laid out as part of the US’ investigation into China’s maritime dominance are unworkable for farmers, notably a port tax on Chinese vessels and the requirement that an increasing volume of US exports be shipped on US-flagged vessels.

While the Gemini Cooperation is hitting its schedule reliability goals, Hapag-Lloyd’s chief executive said fully unwinding its former carrier alliance and dealing with terminal congestion in some locations are providing challenges.

Donald Trump’s latest tariffs targeting the auto sector have put key ro/ro ports on alert as they face a “chilling effect” on volumes.

The port authority on Wednesday completed an expansion of Inland Port Greer ahead of the opening of the near-dock Navy Base Intermodal Facility (NBIF) at the Port of Charleston later this year.

Brent Sadler served in the US Navy for 26 years and now works as a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Major carriers had lined up rate increases with the intention of strengthening their bargaining power during service contract negotiations, but overcapacity seems to have kept that tactic in check.

Capacity improvements at the New Jersey facility will include optimization of the terminal layout, rebuilding berths at a higher level to allow for anticipated increases in the sea level and replacing existing cargo-handling equipment with zero-emission, electric machines.

The top 10 carriers for imports collectively hauled 2.43 million TEUs into the Gulf Coast last year and had a market share of almost 94%, according to the latest Journal of Commerce rankings.

US maritime interests said the proposed fees on Chinese ships would hit a variety of low-value, niche trades that can’t absorb the costs.

MPV industry experts call for exemptions to US port taxes for China-built ships, stressing the lack of alternatives for specialist cargo carriage and the unfair burden on responsibility on the sector.

A deal between the Northwest Seaport Alliance and the Native American Puyallup Tribe will result in a 22-acre, two-berth terminal completed by the end of the decade.

The growing backlog of boxes awaiting a return to Asia has resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how best to address the problem.

Canada’s labor minister will take a direct hand after the mediated talks for a new longshore contract at the port failed to achieve a deal after 18 months of negotiations.

Montreal’s port chief says a successful outcome after nearly two years of talks between port employers and the longshore union will be critical to restoring shipper trust.

Despite the month-over-month downturn, Los Angeles-Long Beach volumes were higher than a year ago as Southern California’s freight boom did not begin until the second quarter of last year.

Running loops with fewer ships will not be the current priority for an oversupplied industry, but new entrants may be more inclined to look at a lean, efficient product that has a competitive service edge in the key hubs it serves, writes Jeremy Masters.

The port will berth vessels at its smaller Ocean Terminal two miles downriver from the main Garden City terminal in order to cut waiting times outside the port and reduce ship backlogs.

The National Retail Federation now says it expects a downward shift in the second quarter as importers face challenges from tariffs and elevated inventories in the wake of significant cargo frontloading.

Zim’s decision to keep more capacity available for spot rather than contract business on the trans-Pacific allowed it to capitalize on the expanded deployment of capacity on the trade.