Despite continuing port congestion across Europe and low schedule reliability (30%) tying up so much capacity, the shipping lines have announced yet more blanked sailings.
Globally, schedule reliability has improved to 46.2% in August, its highest level in almost two years.
Reliability on the Asia-North Europe trade has risen to 30%, while the trade with the lowest reliability is Asia-US East Coast trade at 17%. Transpacific eastbound has fallen slightly to 35%, while transatlantic westbound reliability is 29%.
In an effort to reduce a container imbalance of 200K TEU, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has joined Los Angeles and Long Beach in imposing a delay fee, launching in the 4th quarter, to encourage the quick collection of import containers and evacuation of empties.
As demand has weakened over recent months and container vessels have not been fully filled, freight rates have been under pressure, which typically prompts tactical blank sailings, to reduce available capacity and the erosion of rates on the spot markets.
Post Golden Week capacity reductions on the Asia to North Europe trade lane are removing almost 20% of available volume, which is in line with 2019, but higher than the 2014-2018 average.
MSC has suspended bookings for its express Ningbo and Shanghai to Los Angeles Sequoia service, Matson has closed its China-California Express service and CU Lines TPX service and CMA CGM’s Golden Gate Bridge loop have been suspended, together with Maersk’s pendulum service from Vung Tau, Vietnam to the east coast.
Demand for US east/Gulf coast services has remained strong, with volumes up 12%, as cargo has shifted from congested west coast ports amid nervousness about the lack of a new west coast labour agreement and the continuing risk of labour dispute disruption.
Overall capacity reductions to the US east and west coasts range between 22% and 28% of deployed weekly capacity in the weeks following Golden Week, up 50% on 2019, and well over double the average of 2014-2018.
We negotiate contracts with carriers across all three alliances to secure space and rates, that provide the best blend of alternatives and options, whatever the situation.
By leveraging contracts and relationships we adapt services, port pairs and routings, to work around blanked sailings and maintain the resilient, reliable supply chains that best serve our customers.
