Category: United States

Negotiations for a new labour contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), are due to start on the 12th of May and shippers are already sourcing products from Asia earlier than normal and directing more cargo to US East Coast and Gulf terminals, to avoid potential port ch... Read more

In yet another headache for shippers to and from the United States a widespread winter storm hit the central US and East Coast last week adding a new layer of disruption to supply chains beset by labour shortages, delays moving imports inland, and a general lack of warehousing and storage space. ... Read more

Container imports at the US’ ten largest ports increased 14.3% year-over-year in July and ocean freight supply chains, now in their second year of extreme dislocation, are threatened by shipping lines suspension of merchant haulage. The complete erosion of sailing schedule reliability, ships... Read more

We are in a new world of shipping. There have been spikes in demand and freight rates before, but never for such a long time and never on such a continuously upward trajectory. The challenges we face are unique. Even with demand levels increasing on the most popular trades, equipment availabil... Read more

Economists are convinced that global sea freight demand will continue to outstrip container shipping capacity for the rest of this year and into next year, which is good news for the shipping lines’ bottom line, but not so much for shippers, who continue to pay premiums in order to get their pr... Read more

Despite the tariff-free deal agreed with the EU, up to £3.5bn of British exports have already had taxes applied and the US has introduced new tariffs worth $2bn on European goods, including products from the UK. British goods worth billions of pounds, accounting for about 10% of British expor... Read more

Congestion levels at the major North America container gateways is expected to continue into the summer, as container imports from Asia grew a massive 31% year on year. With 1.57m teu arriving at US ports from Asia last month, the highest level on record, the container import boom shows no sig... Read more

Spot market shippers have seen continued rate spikes this week and the shipping lines are preparing for further rate elevation, as excess demand leads to cargo-rolling increases at many origin and transhipment ports. Shippers using the spot market for consignments from Asia to Euro... Read more

Port operations at Montreal resumed on Sunday after legislation was passed by the Canadian Parliament to end the industrial action by longshoremen, however it will take several days, or probably weeks, to return operations to anything like a normal situation. About ten ships are currently en-r... Read more

Nine consecutive months of record breaking imports from Asia together with global supply chain volatility and uncertainty, is congesting US terminals and choking the inland supply chain infrastructure.  Booming US imports from Asia accelerated even further in March, to 1.66 million TEU, u... Read more

Local knowledge is invaluable, which is why we are indebted to our joint venture partners at Fracht USA for providing us with their comprehensive intelligence. Specialists in complex and turnkey movements for the energy, technology and gas sectors, our joint venture partner Fracht operates out... Read more