The Ports of These Countries are Severely Blocked, and the Containers are Filling the Terminals!

Many of the world's major ports have recently started jamming again, not to mention that European and U.S. ports are experiencing historic congestion. To add insult to injury, overseas truckers and other supply chain strikes are coming together one after another.

Container ships are lined up outside the port; container containers are piled up in the yard; and buyers who are late in picking up their goods ask foreign trade people every day.

"Where is my cargo?"

"Why haven't you received it after 2 months?"

Now, send him the reasons for this port congestion. It's really not the exporter's fault!

U.S. supply chain disruption

Due to the serious dissatisfaction of U.S. truckers caused by the California Labor Bill AB5, truckers at the three major ports in the U.S. West, the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland, started striking in mid-July. The combined throughput of these three ports accounts for about half of the nation's containerized cargo.

There are currently tens of thousands of containers stacked at the U.S. West ports, and nearly 30,000 containers have been delayed at the Los Angeles port terminal, with an average stay and wait time of about 7.5 days. At the same time, due to the fear of the U.S. West longshoremen's strike, a large number of cargoes moved to the U.S. East or Gulf of Mexico ports, resulting in a significant increase in U.S. East traffic and even more congestion at U.S. East ports, with waiting times of 11–12 days at the Port of Savannah.

What's even scarier is that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, a longshore union with nearly 30,000 members and all 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast, has a contract that expired on July 1 and is in negotiations. Judging from past history, the chances of them successfully negotiating are basically zero. If the labor dispute escalates, that is not a snowballing problem for the supply chain...

To remind the recent foreign trade people to ship to the United States, freight forwarders suggest that the New York terminal can choose from COSCO, OOCL, and Evergreen. The LA terminal is the most stable, with only MATSON, EVERGREEN, and OOCL barely moving.

Since last week, truckers at the Port of Oakland have been blocking roads to the port, preventing ships from unloading and leaving rows of containers with nowhere to go.

Congestion worsens at the Port of Vancouver, Canada

Congestion is worsening at the Port of Vancouver, Canada, due to record import volumes and intermodal delays caused by forest fires in British Columbia.

Maersk noted that the current yard utilization rate at the Centerm terminal in the Port of Vancouver has reached 113%. Prince Rupert's current yard utilization is also high at 117%, with an average container dwell time of 9.2 days. Maersk is canceling port calls and starting to impose a port congestion surcharge.

Continued congestion at inland rail yards and warehouses in Toronto and Montreal

Original article: https://financialpost.com/transportation/rail/maersks-struggles-to-move-freight-in-canada-highlight-supply-chain-woes

UK logistics strikes across the board

The UK is going to have a chaotic summer this year.

As early as June, the National Union of British Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers announced that more than 50,000 workers in the rail system would go on strike on June 21, 23, and 25, paralyzing the British rail network, which would be more than 30 years old. The biggest strike in the railway sector

They have even scheduled the strike for August and will continue to strike on July 27, August 18, and August 20, respectively.

On July 14, the British train drivers' union ASLEF also announced that train drivers from eight British railway companies would go on strike on July 30 because of a pay dispute.

Rail strikes may be just the beginning. The Times reported that, in addition to railway workers, teachers, paramedics, and the Royal Mail could all go on strike over pay disputes in the coming months.

More than 500 dockworkers at Peel Ports in Liverpool are preparing to vote on strike action, which begins on July 25 and ends on August 15. If the workers' strike vote is passed, the port may be shut down by the end of August.

RMT union strike action plans on July 27, August 18 and August 20 will cause major disruptions across the UK rail network

Original article: https://www.maersk.com/news/articles/2022/07/18/planned-rail-strike-in-uk

Rare strike at German docks

In the "summer of strikes," there is actually Germany.

The port union of Hamburg, the second largest container port in Europe, went on strike from July 14th to July 16th, and from July 16th to July 17th, it was up to the workers to decide whether to come to work or not. It was its third strike since June and Germany's longest in nearly 40 years.

European ports and railway and road-related transportation have been turbulent in recent months, and various unfavorable factors have superimposed, causing congestion in the ports of Antwerp, Hamburg, and Rotterdam.

The average utilization rate of the terminal yard in the port of Antwerp is 80%; the utilization rate of the ECT terminal in the port of Rotterdam is as high as 85%; the utilization rate of the reefer plug is 100%, and the detention time of transshipment and imported goods is also longer.

On the Asia-Europe route, Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Antwerp are all necessary ports. If there is a port delay, the relevant ports will be affected.

The port plug will reduce the turnover rate of ships. Shipping companies on the Asia-Europe route have been mulling price increases. This time, the port of Hamburg has extended the strike time. Once the delay of the shipping schedule deteriorates and the market space is insufficient, the price increase can be realized quickly.

The Maritime Executive: Europe's major ports are experiencing the challenges of congestion

Hapag-Lloyd adds congestion surcharge to two French ports as Europe's major terminals experience labor shortages, port congestion

Original Article: https://maritime-executive.com/article/major-european-ports-are-experiencing-congestion-challenges

The Clarksons Container Port Congestion Index in the UK hit a new high on July 14, showing that 37.8% of the container fleet's capacity was stuck at the port, exceeding the previous high at the end of October last year, and the congestion caused a reduction in capacity.

As a result, the sea freight that has finally cooled down may have to rise again!