Cover Story
Asia import surge testing ports amid ILA threat
By Bill Mongelluzzo and Michael Angell
The US peak season is bustling . Volumes and new ship capacity are barreling into Southern California while straining the ports of the Pacific Northwest . Retail forecasts and carriers ’ ship-capacity deployments suggest a strong final stretch of the peak season for winter holiday shopping .
Next month , however , may start with significant uncertainty if a longshoremen ’ s strike on the East and West Coast isn ’ t averted ; 60 % of US container volume representing $ 588 billion in annualized trade value would come to a screeching halt .
Container lines are set to deploy 8.5 % more capacity in October than September between Asia and the US West Coast , according to eeSea , a maritime intelligence provider . For routings to East and Gulf coasts , carriers are signaling they ’ ll deploy 8 % more capacity within the same period . Notably , carriers have already announced far more blank sailings on both outbound Asia trades for October than September .
Southern California , a traditional gateway for apparel and electronics , is seeing the brunt of the new capacity deployment . Ocean carriers in the eastbound trans-Pacific are scheduled to deploy 28 “ extra-loader ” vessels to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in September and October in response to heavy import volumes expected to land at the country ’ s busiest gateway .
The added capacity — 14 extra loaders at each port — comes amid an anticipated boost in discretionary cargo diverted from ports along the US East and Gulf coasts as shippers protect themselves from potential longshore labor disruption in those regions . Ports on the US West Coast may also see an uptick in freight diverted from Vancouver considering the rail labor issues north of the border are not fully settled . halbergman / Getty Images
Rail delays to the north
The port congestion and elevated rail container dwell times that have been a fact of life in the Pacific Northwest for weeks appear to be peaking , and some relief is expected later this month . Until then , however , shippers will be forced to contend with delays in the movement of intermodal containers to inland destinations .
www . joc . com September 23 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 11