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Freight & Logistics Update 28 June 2023

Freight & Logistics Update 28 June 2023

Good morning, Clients & Partners,

Below please find our latest industry update & news.

As always, we will keep you posted on any impacts to your cargo on an individual shipment level. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

SOUTH AFRICA    

DURBAN

Port berthing delays at the port has increased. The port has reported windy weather during the week and is experiencing congestion.

  • Pier 1 : 5 days
  • Pier 2 : 3 days
  • Durban Point : 0 days

CAPE TOWN

Berthing delays at Cape Town Container Terminal have increased. The port has reported windy weather during the week.

  • CTCT : 5 days
  • MPT : 0 days

PORT ELIZABETH

Port berthing delays have increased since the prior week. The port has reported strong winds during the week.

  • PECT : 1 day
  • NCT : 2 days

AFRICA & INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS    

Port congestion in West African ports continues to be experienced leading to increased delays and affecting overall transit times.

MAURITIUS

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Port Louis.

ANGOLA

  • Berthing delay of 2 days experienced at Luanda port.

GHANA

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Tema port.

NIGERIA

  • Reduced berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Apapa port.

TANZANIA

  • Berthing delay of 4 days experienced at Dar es Salaam port.

KENYA

  • Berthing delays of 1 day experienced at Mombasa port.

MOZAMBIQUE

  • Pre-Inspection Certificates will become mandatory for specified products being imported into Mozambique. No berthing delays experienced at Maputo port.

NAMIBIA

  • Increased berthing delay of 5 days experienced at Walvis Bay port.

DJIBOUTI

  • Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) required for destination Djibouti effective 15th June 2023.

NORTH AMERICA    

USA

Terminals Updates:

  • NY/NJ – Vessel waiting time is up to 1 day.
  • Norfolk – Vessel waiting time is up to 2 days. One crane down at Norfolk Int’l Terminal, however, no negative impact in the week.
  • Savannah – Vessel waiting time is up to 3 days. Negative tides are causing delays for deep draft vessels, however, conditions are expected to go back to normal next week.
  • Charleston – Vessel waiting time is down to 1 day. Maintenance dredging at Wando Welch Terminal continues. 
  • Miami/Port Everglades – Vessel waiting time is up to 1 day.
  • Houston – Vessel waiting time is up to 2 days. Barbours Cut Container Terminal continues to experience berth congestion due to high yard utilization.
  • Los Angeles/ Long Beach – Vessel waiting time is up to 4 days.
  • Seattle – Vessel waiting time is up to 3 days.
  • Oakland – Vessel waiting time is at 3 days

Rail Updates:

  • BNSF – Rail ramp is currently experiencing congestion in Chicago, Columbus, and Los Angeles. There are delays in picking-up and delivering containers at these locations.
  • UP/LAX/LGB – Rail ramp is currently experiencing congestion in Los Angeles. There are delays in picking-up and delivering containers at this location.

Equipment Availability:

Due to persistent congestion nationwide, chassis shortages continue to be observed resulting in potential delays for pick-up and delivery.

CANADA

Vancouver

  • No berth congestion and ships are working immediately once alongside. Rail productivity remains below expectations due to reduced car supply by both rail providers. Dwell times remain high at 4.4 days.

Montreal

  • Vessels are arriving on proforma schedule. There are no issues with labour availability, and there is good productivity in the terminal yard.

LATIN AMERICA    

BRAZIL

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Santos port.

NORTH WEST CONTINENT, UNITED KINGDOM, MEDITERRANEAN    

BELGIUM

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Antwerp port. Civil works at PSA 869 resulting in ~400 meters reduction of berth started is allowing one large vessel alongside at times but focus of cranes on one vessel is boosting productivity. AGW Terminal received 3 additional Gantries which will be fully operational in September. Terminal with good productivity.

GERMANY

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Bremerhaven port and 2 days at Hamburg port. Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) able to provide good productivity however, terminal is facing technical challenges to the equipment with the ongoing heat wave in Germany. Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) will start extensive berth renovations on berth 1+2 starting on Monday 26.06. Construction will last for 10 weeks. Berth 1+2 will be closed for operations during the construction. No operational impact expected.

UNITED KINGDOM

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at London Gateway port. Due to the ongoing expansion construction LGP with 20m less pier length minimal impact to operations. Terminal running with full equipment resources available.

SPAIN

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Barcelona port.

ITALY

  • Berthing delays of 3 days experienced at Genova port and 1 day La Spezia port. Genova, GPT terminal has possible gate in restrictions for DG exports, due to elevate number of IMO park limitations.

NETHERLANDS

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Rotterdam port. Europe Container Terminals (ECT) overall productivity slightly reduced since machinery is exposed and susceptible to heat. Ongoing crane maintenance further increases the operational challenges. Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) continues good productivity.

FRANCE

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Le Havre port and 6 days at Fos-sur-Mer port. No strike announced for this week and no further strikes expected for the coming weeks. In 2 weeks, the summer vacation will begin in France and is expected to have an influence on labour availability. Vacation period will last until beginning of September.

TURKEY

  • Berthing delay of 3 days experienced at Istanbul port. Vessel Scheduling Amendments (NB to note that these schedule amendments will impact both inbound and outbound cargo and container movements).  

INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT and MIDDLE EAST    

INDIA

  • The Gujarat coast of India has experienced several delays at Pipavav and Mundra ports due to Cyclone Biparjoy impacting the region. Berthing delays of 4 days experienced at Mundra port, while Nhava Sheva and Chennai ports have a 2 and 1 day berthing delay respectively.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Jebel Ali port.

SRI LANKA

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Colombo port.

ASIA PACIFIC    

Hazardous commodity acceptance out of China remains a challenge as approval for loading remains subject to carriers’ stringent acceptance protocols. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival on Thursday, 22nd June 2023.

HONG KONG

  • Berthing delay of 1 day being experienced.

TAIWAN

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Kaohsiung port.

SHANGHAI / NINGBO

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Shanghai port and 2 days at Ningbo port. Intermittent port closure experienced in Ningbo port due to bad weather. Vessel bunching experienced.

QINGDAO

  • Berthing delays of 4 days experienced. Vessel bunching experienced outside of the port.

XIAMEN

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced.

XINGANG

  • No berthing delays experienced at this port.

KOREA

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Busan port. Vessel bunching occurred outside the port.

VIETNAM

  • Berthing delay of 1 day experienced at Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh ports.

SINGAPORE

  • Berthing delay of 2 days experienced.

NEWS  ARTICLES    

Don’t be too eager for return to west coast ports, shippers warned

Date: 19th June 2023

“Shippers are being warned against a hasty return to the US west coast after an apparent breakthrough in contract disputes, and while there are concerns over an “unprecedented” drought in the Panama Canal. Reports over the past week have suggested the El Niño weather system will result in historic lows along the famous canal bringing stricter draught restrictions and threats of a complete halt to container shipping transits.

Shipping advisor Dr Walter Kemmsies, of the Kemmsies group, told The Loadstar: “Draught restrictions were imposed in March after rains failed to materialise”. A strong rainy season is essential to fill the lakes that supply the canal, most important of which is the 100-year-old Gatun manmade lake which has seen new developments generate compete for the water it uses to feed the locks.” Professor Ray Harris, of UCL, told The Loadstar El Niño was a “complicated” system to measure.

“We’ve been asked by shippers if they should reroute their cargo through the west coast ports, but the ILWU is a different union beast to the east coast’s ILA,” he noted. “Everyone needs to remember the agreement is in place, not the contract, and until that is the case it would be risky to reroute, even amid El Niño concerns.”

Barge operators impose surcharges after rapid fall in Rhine water level

Date: 21st June 2023

“A rapid decline in water levels along the Rhine has resulted in barge operators imposing low-water surcharges (LWSs). While nowhere near last year’s levels, which fell to 32cm,  forcing the Rhine’s closure, MSC announced it would pass on to customers LWSs imposed by its barge operator partners on services to or from Antwerp and Rotterdam after the river dipped below 150cm.

“Navigation’s still possible but with reduced capacity,” the carrier told customers. “As a result, reaching closings in the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam cannot be guaranteed. Furthermore, all cost arising from this situation, such as demurrage, detention and storage, is not for account of MSC.” [1] 

Indian ports reopen after eight days

Date: 21st June 2023

“The closure of ports on India’s Gujarat coast has been lifted as the danger of Cyclone Biparjoy has passed. APM Terminals Pipavav reported two berthings of container vessels. The ports of Pipavay and Mundra were affected by the closure, according to Container World.

India’s containerised trade has been under significant strain because of extreme weather events on the western coastline since the end of May, causing heavy cargo backlogs and scheduled vessel-call cancellations.

“We foresee the ripple effect of these closures to persist for a considerable period as the industry prepares to near the peak shipping season soon,” said Container xChange. The equipment marketplace and operating platform added that the industry should expect that the combination of suspended port and rail operations, and potential disruptions in the container supply chain, will likely lead to congestion and delays in container movements. [2] 

South Korea Early Exports Hint at Budding Global Recovery

Date: 21st June 2023

“South Korean exports offered an early sign of improvement in global trade after their first year-on-year gain since last summer. Preliminary trade figures showed a 5.3% gain in exports in the first 20 days of June from a year ago for the first increase since August, a possible sign that a slowdown in world demand is starting to ease. The rise was largely driven by gains in car and shipping-related exports, while semiconductor exports continued to drop.

As a key provider of chips and smartphones for the global economy, South Korea’s export data offer one of the earliest pulse checks on the strength of international trade and tech-sector demand. While the figures were encouraging, it’s too early to gauge how fast any recovery might be, according to Krystal Tan, economist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. “But it does look like we’re nearing a bottom.” [3] 

Drought-Hit Panama Canal Further Restricts Maximum Ship Depth

Date: 22nd June 2023

The Panama Canal will expand restrictions on the largest ships crossing the waterway, one of the world’s busiest trade passages, the canal authority’s administrator said on Wednesday, citing shallower waters due to drought.

The measure follows a series of depth restrictions in the 50-mile (80 km) canal since the beginning of the year due to a drought, which authorities had hoped would ease by the start of the Central American country’s rainy season. Ship traffic, including container ships and oil tankers, using the canal between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean accounts for about 3.5% of global trade.

The new restrictions, which will take effect Sunday, limit neo-Panamax container ships to a depth limit of 43.5 feet (13.3 meters) meaning they must either carry less cargo or shed weight in order to float higher. The previous maximum draft was 44.0 feet. [4] 

SOURCES & REFERENCES     

SACO CFR

Hapag Lloyd | Maersk | MSC | Transnet | The LoadStar Publications | gCaptain.com | Shipco Transport | Splash247.com | Freightnews | Hellenic Shipping News | Seatrade Maritime News

[1] https://theloadstar.com/barge-operators-impose-surcharges-after-rapid-fall-in-rhine-water-level/

[2] https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/indian-ports-reopen-after-eight-days

[3] https://gcaptain.com/south-korea-early-exports-hint-at-budding-global-recovery/

[4] https://gcaptain.com/drought-hit-panama-canal-further-restricts-maximum-ship-depth/

We’re here to answer any questions or queries so don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

Best regards,

JJ & The Inter-Sped Team