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10 % in the week of Oct . 14 and recovered slightly before dropping again by 15 % in the week of Oct . 28 .
Two weeks after the stoppage , ships operating on the trans-Atlantic backhaul were delayed for their arrivals to Europe , impacting export capacity , Jensen said . After three to four weeks , Latin America exports will be affected , with Asia exports impacted after five to six weeks , he said .
“ These are simply dominoes that have fallen ,” Jensen said . “ Every time we have a problem somewhere in the world , this percolates through the system for months .”
Carriers have expressed similar concerns related to equipment availability and schedule impacts .
“ The strike and [ the ] slow steaming around the Cape of Good Hope requires such an investment in assets so you have enough containers to get back to handle both sides of the ocean ,” Stuart Sandlin , president of Hapag Lloyd North America said during the South Carolina conference .
US imports from Asia grow for 12th straight month in September
Containerized US imports from Asia , in laden TEUs , with year-over-year change
TEU volume
1,600,000
1,400,000 |
30 % |
|
1,277,143
1,200,000
|
40 %
20 %
|
1,000,000
1,000,000 800,000
600,000 400,000 200,000
Source : S & P Global
www . joc . com
40 %
10 % 100 % 0 %
-10 % -20 % -30 %
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
-40% |
|
Oct
L
|
Jan 2023 |
Apr |
Jul |
Oct |
Jan 2024 |
Apr |
Sep
Jul ,
2024Oct
|
TEU Year-over-year % change
Year-over-year % change
© 2024 S & P Global
Pricing momentum fizzling
Most carriers have dropped “ congestion ” surcharges imposed at the onset of the early October strike . Container spot rates from Asia to the US are falling faster than is typical for this time of year — i . e ., at the tail end of the peak shipping season — due to the heavy frontloading that occurred in the spring and summer .
As of Oct . 18 , Asia – US West Coast spot rates had slipped to $ 4,000 per FEU from a peak of $ 8,133 per FEU in early July , according to Platts , a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global .
Furthermore , while they ’ re trying to raise rates , most carriers are offering special ad hoc “ bullet ” rates that undercut the posted spot and freight-all-kinds ( FAK ) rates . “ While the carriers are trying to keep the rates up , they ’ re cutting deals at the same time ,” Jon Monroe , who serves as an adviser to non-vessel-operating common carriers ( NVOs ), told the Journal of Commerce .
Carriers since late spring have been offering bullet rates that are hundreds of dollars lower than the listed spot and FAK rates , especially to the West Coast , where space on vessels is plentiful after carriers launched or reinstated 10 services earlier this year . It makes sense that carriers are attempting to keep their FAK rates from sinking lower ; not all NVOs qualify for the bullet rates because of the port pairs involved or because they lack the volume carriers are looking for , Monroe said .
With the traditional peak shipping season coming to a close at the end of October , forwarders , analysts and terminal operators expect West Coast volumes to remain elevated through the end of October before dropping in the normally slow month of November .
US imports from Asia hit 1.76 million TEUs in July , the highest monthly total since May 2022 , and remained near two-year highs in August and September , according to PIERS , also part of S & P Global . Through the first nine months of 2024 , eastbound trans-Pacific volumes were up
November 4 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 13