US importers must feel that in the past year or so, they have been caught in a "whack-a-mole" game.
In response to the congestion, many U.S. importers switched ports of import to the East Coast—only to find congestion there was worse than on the Pacific Coast.
According to statistics from maritime analysis company MarineTraffic, at the recent peak moment, there were 18 container ships waiting for berths in the Port of Charleston, South Carolina, USA, and another 12 container ships waiting in line at the Port of Norfolk, Virginia. If calculated in terms of container shipping capacity, there are 273,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) waiting on the East Coast, which is more than the 186,000 TEU on the West Coast. Peter Sand, chief analyst at
rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, predicted that the East Coast of the United States is "the next serious congestion hotspot."
The East Coast is also congested
MarineTraffic data shows that importers on the U.S. East Coast are now having to wait longer to get their goods: The current median waiting time at the Port of Los Angeles, one of the West Coast gateway ports, is less than 4 days, The waiting time at the Port of Long Beach is less than 2 days, but the median waiting time at the Port of Charleston is 9 to 10 days, and the median waiting time at the Port of Norfolk is 3 to 4 days.
In fact, before you knew it, import containers at ports on the East Coast of the United States began to pile up. Starting from the second half of 2021, there will be a significant increase in the number of mega-ships at the terminals of the Eastern Gateway Port.
Entering February 2022, Maersk began to send letters warning customers that waiting times at several East Coast ports, including the Port of Charleston, had increased. Bob Imbriani, vice president of international services at
TeamWorldwide, said: "The situation is slowly getting worse, and it has been sporadic, but it is starting to become a major problem. We have seen delays expand several times. God.”
Why do American importers want to “shift their positions”? On the one hand, the congestion at the West Coast gateway ports has not been completely resolved, prompting importers to look for ports with faster customs clearance. On the other hand, contract negotiations between West Coast dock workers and terminal operators are about to begin. In previous history, these negotiations have It has caused interference to the import speed of goods.
Currently, various East Coast ports face looming labor contract negotiations, but the problems at these ports are similar to those on the West Coast: In particular, insufficient unloading space and labor shortages show no signs of abating.
Over the past seven months, the South Carolina Port Authority has repeatedly adjusted its forecasts for when terminal congestion will be cleared. This month, it simply announced that it would no longer make predictions.
Mediterranean Shipping Company notified its customers this month that it would suspend calls at the Port of Charleston on routes to South Asia due to extended waiting times.
At the same time, more and more importers and freight forwarders are diverting goods from the East Coast to the Gulf of Mexico . This has brought a wave of container imports to the Port of Houston. Its container import volume in January increased by 27% year-on-year.
"We have actually turned to several Gulf ports some time ago and expanded their use based on the availability of towing services," Imbuani said.
It can be expected that the number of Asian containers in Houston will further increase in the future. In late March, Maersk launched a trans-Pacific route from Asia to the Port of Houston and the Port of Norfolk via the Panama Canal .
Previously, when China Business News reporter interviewed Han Jun, chief analyst of China Securities Construction Investment, regarding the behavior of importers changing routes, he said: "There will be no substantial impact. For example, The port on the west coast of the United States is blocked Seventy or eighty ships are diverted to Canada, but trucks and drivers are still needed to transport from Canada to the interior of the United States. This problem is a systemic project, and port congestion requires more than just solving the port problem. "
Han Jun believes that, There are influencing factors at both ends. Just solving the so-called "root cause" of the disease, "treating the head for a headache, treating the feet for a sore foot", ultimately fails to treat the root cause.
“So I don’t think starting from the supply side can effectively improve the situation."He said.
West Coast throughput is still soaring
After nearly a year of crazy port congestion, the United States' concerns about the supply chain are receding, but this does not mean that the United States port throughput has declined. .
Instead, cargo is still pouring into U.S. ports, according to the U.S. Port of Los Angeles’ latest monthly report, which reported better-than-expected March throughput — the port’s best March ever and the fourth-best in history. month, and was the best first quarter ever.
Specifically, the Port of Los Angeles’ total throughput was 958,674TEU, second only to May 2021, October 2020, and August 2020. The Port of Los Angeles handled 1.8 million TEU, up 3.5% year-on-year from the record level in the first quarter of last year.
html In March, the Port of Los Angeles imported 495,195 TEU, which, along with total throughput, was the fourth-highest monthly import figure ever. The highest value since May last year. The month-on-month growth data ofimports is particularly telling. In March, imports at the Port of Los Angeles increased by 17% compared with December 2021, when imports increased by 29%. Imports at the Port of Los Angeles reached their lowest level since June 2020, when the U.S. was under lockdown
This reflects a surge in imports as more containers on ships were successfully unloaded
According to the Southern California Marine Exchange. According to statistics, from the beginning of March to the end of March, the number of container ships waiting near the Los Angeles/Long Beach port dropped from 60 to 48, a decrease of 20%. China Business News reporters checked the data on April 15 and found that the current number of container ships waiting. The number was 34. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said the reason for the strong first-quarter data was “better liquidity at the terminal. We've been working on this for a long time and it's paying off. We have fewer ships waiting in line and faster speeds on the docks."
"Secondly, we have more workers working on the docks and the once reduced shifts are restored. In addition, the port uses a lot of data analytics in its work, he explained.
