As Metro reported in last week’s supply chain bulletin, the availability of container equipment has become the primary supply chain issue for shippers and importers from China and Asia in general. The lack of equipment is a key issue impacting both rates and supply chains across Asia, with some areas experiencing the shortages more severely, …
With strong demand and container shortages continuing throughout the Christmas and New Year period, sea freight rates from Asia have not softened and show little sign of easing before the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays in February – at the earliest. Consumer demand across Europe remains strong, with companies unable to restock in the face …
The COVID pandemic massively impacted freight infrastructure operations, rates, vessel space and equipment availability last year and is showing little sign of ending any time soon. Sea freight rates from Asia are at the highest levels ever seen, equipment shortages continue at virtually every origin and schedule reliability continues to be impacted by continuing port …
As container freight rates continue to rise from Asia, regulators in China and the US are raising concerns and the European Commission is being urged to consider whether the carriers’ behaviour is damaging trade growth at a time of economic recession. Chinese regulators are renewing their carrier investigations, driven by concerns over volume controls and …
The container shortage that is currently impacting Asia supply chains, has led lines to stop accepting shipment bookings from Ningbo, while the suspension of Southern China feeder operations, because of COVID, will impact key ports until after Chinese New Year 2021. Due to the severe lack of container equipment in the Ningbo area, shipping lines …
Congestion at UK container ports which commenced in the Summer at Felixstowe, before filtering out to Southampton and London Gateway, is continuing despite all efforts, with Japanese carmaker Honda warning that production at its Swindon plant will be disrupted. Problems at the UK’s container ports have been building for several months, with shipping lines altering …
Dramatic images on Twitter captured the 14,000 teu containership, ONE Apus, losing over a quarter of its load, in a catastrophic container stack collapse, that dumped over 1,800 boxes into the Pacific ocean on the 30th November. The Twitter image, shared by Container News, shows that most of the container stacks between the accommodation and …
The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the body responsible for the regulation of ocean carriers and intermediaries, is intensifying its monitoring of shipping alliance activity on the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades. Citing market fluctuations, the FMC’s regulators are increasing their monitoring of the three major global shipping alliances, requiring them to provide carrier-specific trans-Pacific …
As the Asia peak season rumbles on and the carriers struggle to meet demand, cargo rollovers are increasing at the busiest transhipment ports. After a global decline in rollovers during September, the average container rollover rate at leading transshipment ports rose in October. This time of year would typically be a lull, following the summer …
The lack of container equipment at Asian origins is so severe that carriers are leaving export cargo on the quay, to ship empty containers back from Europe and the United States. The container shortages are so acute, particularly at the Chinese ports of Qingdao, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai, that some vessels are leaving Asia without …