Ports

For ocean carriers, the decision to cancel sailings suggests they expect no rebound in trans-Pacific freight rates that are now at two-year lows.

US big-box retailers are receiving fewer imports while inventories remain elevated and US consumer confidence teeters, boding poorly for a significant second-half rebound in Asia container imports, writes JOC Executive Mark Szakonyi.

Ongoing uncertainty over longshore labor on the West Coast is disrupting the long-term relationships US agricultural exporters have worked to establish with their overseas buyers.

HMM’s decision to immediately cease charging demurrage fees at closed terminals comes as the US Federal Maritime Commission is finalizing rulemaking around free time billing practices.

Recovering US supply and lower shipping costs are benefiting resin exports, but the uncertain forecast for the global economy makes the outlook for more growth a guessing game.

APM Terminals said the new facility would specifically target North American and European export and import markets.

The plea to the Biden administration comes just days after the Pacific Maritime Association said the latest job action by dockworkers caused “significant delays” at some marine terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Mississippi’s Gulfport is looking to add more container handling capability with Ports America planning to redevelop a shuttered terminal for cargo handling.

Ahead of a June deadline to issue new rulemaking on detention and demurrage billing, the Federal Maritime Commission is seeking clarity from carriers and terminals about billing shippers when container pickups and drop-offs are not possible.

Local freight forwarder sources in India say they view GRIs more as a tool to slow the erosion in rates rather than effectively trying to increase prices.

The Port of Hamburg is once again being disrupted by strike action that is causing significant disruption to vessel schedules at Europe’s third-largest container hub.

The Scan Baltic to USA service, which will begin calling Jaxport in late April, marks the port's second trans-Atlantic service and fifth container service.

The fast-track hearing schedule came after the South Carolina State Port Authority told the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals the port could become “bottlenecked” if ships can’t call the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal.

Maersk in April will stop collecting detention and demurrage fees on days terminals are closed and shippers can’t pick up or drop off containers, a move yet to be followed by competing ocean carriers.

ILWU Canada is seeking significant wage increases, while automation of cargo-handling equipment, a source of tension in past contract negotiations, will likely once again be a prominent issue.

While the ocean shipping market has largely normalized after COVID-19, stakeholders would be wise to pursue a business strategy that takes operationally disruptive events into account, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

Breakbulk shippers and logistics providers have several proposals for changes to ISPM 15 mitigation and enforcement measures pending approval from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Longshore workers represented by ILWU Local 13 are refusing to stagger their meal breaks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, resulting in periods when no work is being done on the docks, says the Pacific Maritime Association.

As the US West Coast’s share of import TEU has fallen in recent years, analyst Larry Gross notes there is an important difference between declines due to sourcing location changes and declines due to loss of share by region.

The independent equipment providers say upending the current business model would create additional chassis shortages and invoicing problems that would inconvenience cargo owners.