Container port congestion remained steady over the past week, with the total capacity tied up at anchorages at 1.7m teu or 6.4% of the fleet. There has been no significant changes across the 3 main regions of North Asia, North America and Europe with the congestion situation remaining steady throughout the past week. The resolution of the ILWU contract negotiations is expected to see further improvements across the US West Coast ports but the threat of a strike across the border remains as th
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) have reached a tentative agreement with the PMA on 14 May 2023 on a new 6 year contract covering all 29 ports along the US West Coast, ending 13 months of negotiations that was marked by sporadic work actions by the port workers. The deal will still need to be ratified by the members in a process that would stretch over several months but it has helped to avert a catastrophic shutdown of port facilities in the US West Coast. The ILWU fai
US west coast ports remain open despite the work actions taken by the ILWU last week, with the build up of vessels waiting at west coast anchorages largely under control. Although the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) said that cargo operations at the port of Seattle were shut down on 9 and 10 June, this was disputed by the ILWU. Port productivity at Seattle and Tacoma have slowed with over the past week with port stays extended by several days and vessel berthing delays continuing although t
Congestion has built up around the Chinese ports of Shanghai, Ningbo and Qingdao over the past week, pushing up the number of containerships waiting at Chinese anchorages to 850,000 teu – the highest levels seen since September. The situation could worsen with rising Covid infection rates across Chinese cities after the government eased restrictions, affecting the availability of labor and port handling productivity. Congestion is expected to remain elevated over the coming weeks as Chinese wor
Global port congestion is trending down with the delays at US and European ports easing gradually on slowing cargo demand and improved terminal operations. With the threat of the US rail strike now averted, further improve-ments are expected even with the ILWU dockworker contract negotiations on the US West Coast still unresolved. Congestion in North Asia has however edged up with a heavy build up of ships in the Bohai region, with longer waiting times at Qingdao and Busan. The South Korean tru
Global port congestion continues to ease, although the number of ships waiting at anchor at Chinese ports would have fallen more if not for some 9 ships of over 10,000 teu that are currently idle at various North Asia locations. These ships are not waiting to berth and have been temporarily idled as carriers are forced to remove excess capacity due to the softening market demand. However, most of these ships are scheduled to return to service within the next 2 weeks with carriers still reluctan
Global port congestion increased marginally to 2.79m teu at the end of last week compared to 2.70m teu a week ago, but the overall trend remains on a downward trajectory as congestion is starting to ease across the main hotspots in the US and Europe. There was a small increase in ships waiting at Chinese ports, especially around Qingdao where strong winds shut down terminal operations last week while Ningbo depot operations in the Beilun area were affected by COVID lockdown restrictions. There
Global port congestion eased to a 10 month low, with both the US and China ports recording lower congestion levels. In the US West Coast, the congestion at Los Angeles and Long Beacj have been almost fully cleared, with only 2 out of the 13 LA/LB terminals still facing any material congestion. Vessels calling at MOL’s Trapac and NYK’s YTI are still facing extended delays but the queues at other terminals have all fully cleared, with the average berthing delays not less than 2 days. Congestion
Port congestion is no longer providing any supply side support as congestion is easing across Asia and North America. Congestion at the main Eastern China ports of Shanghai and Ningbo, as well as in Bohai and South Korea dropped to half of their previous week’s highs, as the backlog of ships delayed by the North Asia typhoons of the past 2 weeks were gradually cleared up. The reduction in congestion in North Asia ports has brought down global congestion levels to 10.9% at the end of last week,
The after-effects of typhoon Hinnamnor has resulted in a large build up of ships waiting at Shanghai, Ningbo and Busan even though the congestion has started to clear by the end of the week. There has not been any material improvement in the congestion situation at the other main regions.