Ocean Cargo

POLA reported that total October volume, at 725,775 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), was up 7% annually. The Port of Long Beach reported that total October volume, at 755,150 TEU, was up 14% annually.

For August, the most recent month for which data is available, Port Tracker reported that import volume, for the ports covered in the report, came in at 1.96 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), which is up 2.3% over July, and down 13.5% annually, marking the highest monthly volume on a year-to-date basis, while falling short of a projected 2 million TEU, for the month, in the report’s previous edition.   

After posting another record year of profits, worldwide recessionary and inflationary pressures are now chipping away at ocean carrier fortunes. As far as rates are concerned, our analysts suggest that shippers and freight forwarders will be able to do a little window shopping this year.

Shippers now need to reconsider how they position operations in a changing ocean market, how to plan and secure capacity, and how to develop long-term relationships with the most reliable ocean carriers. These are discussions focused on balanced, mutual commitments from all parties in an effort to mitigate future shipping chaos.

ILWU and PMA said that the tentative agreement is subject to agreement on the other issues in the negotiations.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Matt Marshall, SVP of Commercial, for New York-based NYSHEX, a provider of two-way committed contracts and neutral exchange, which provides shippers and carriers with a predictable, efficient, and accountable system for global commerce. NYSHEX customers include seven of the leading global ocean carriers and more than 190 shippers.

Given the fluidity, uncertainty, and unrest this situation has created, things are anything but predictable, at this point in time, save for a healthy dose of speculation and forecasting, as to how things may play out in the short-term and also how long this conflict could last and continue to foster the unknown in a sense.

Shipping managers are in the spotlight, and executives want managers who have solutions.

POLA reported that it handled 902,644 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), an 8% decrease compared to October 2020, which represents the highest-volume October volume tally in POLA history. The Port of Long Beach reported that total October volume—at 789,716 TEU—were down 2.1% compared to October 2020, its strongest October tally on record, while posting its second-busiest October output ever.

With the company deep into Peak Season, Mike Short, president of Global Forwarding at C.H. Robinson, provided Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman with an overview of how the company approaches Peak Season and works with shippers to meet their objectives, at a time which may be the most unique and challenging market conditions the sector has ever seen.

Shippers relying on maritime operators to get their goods to market have been slammed in recent months. Meanwhile container carriers are looking at 50%-plus percentage gains in revenue.

Balance achieved, service delivered.

Container shortage continues to restrict options on the high seas.

For April, the most recent month for which data is available, import volume came in at 2.15 million TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units), marking a 33.4% annual gain, for its best April reading ever, compared to April 2020, when the majority of stores were closed, due to the pandemic. This came on the heels of March’s 2.27 million TEU, the record-high for any month, going back to when NRF first started tracking imports.

Agility and the ability to adapt to difficult circumstances remains the No. 1 attribute for freight forwarders—but the pandemic put them to the test. Today, the leading forwarders are investing in technology that not only increases efficiency, but also enhances operations and creates new global solutions.