<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Article Misjudged MacBride PrinciplesI read with great interest Mr. John Cushnahan's attack </div>

Article Misjudged MacBride PrinciplesI read with great interest Mr. John Cushnahan's attack

<div>Article MisjudgedMacBride PrinciplesI read with great interest Mr. John Cushnahan's attack on the MacBride Principles (Opinion, March 31), but find his logic somewhat wanting.If, as Mr. Cushnahan suggests, the fair-employment principles are supported by the Irish Republican Army - whose intent he says is to turn the north of Ireland into an economic wasteland - should he not then support these principles and work to insure the survival of the statelet?It seems a little strange to blame the lack of investment in Ireland, north or south, on the very people who for generations have been subject to open and government-sanctioned...

Article Misjudged MacBride PrinciplesI read with great interest Mr. John Cushnahan's attack on the MacBride Principles (Opinion, March 31), but find his logic somewhat wanting. If, as Mr. Cushnahan suggests, the fair-employment principles are supported by the Irish Republican Army - whose intent he says is to turn the north of Ireland into an economic wasteland - should he not then support these principles and work to insure the survival of the statelet? It seems a little strange to blame the lack of investment in Ireland, north or south, on the very people who for generations have been subject to open and government-sanctioned discrimination in employment, housing and every other aspect of daily life. Is it at all possible that the lack of investment - particularly from the United States - is due to the inability of the Irish government to successfully market their product - a rich and beautiful land with a highly educated people. I think this is perhaps the case. Equally, the British government has no interest in aiding the oppressed people of the north, and any employment laws are immediately seen for what they are, bits of paper offering little to the 40 percent unemployed Nationalist population. The problem in the north of Ireland stems from the continued presence of British troops, a legal system that jails hundreds of Nationalists convicted in juryless courts that more resemble the TV game show Wheel of Fortune than a criminal justice system, and a deeply rooted mindset within the power structure that refuses to recognize the rights of its citizens, regardless of religion or political affiliation, to certain God-given rights. If it were not for the continuing successful passage of the principles in state legislatures throughout the United States, the British government would not have reviewed the 1976 Fair Employment Act and declared it a failure last November. It seems that even now the MacBride principles are having a positive affect on the north, educating Americans to the injustice that is part of daily life under British rule. In a word, northern Ireland needs justice, not more hogwash and hypocrisy. Christopher J. Ward III Phoenixville, Pa. No Specific Quotas On Fiber Neckties The Editor's Note accompanying my letter on necktie quotas published March 24 was, regrettably, misleading. My letter discussed the fact that there are no specific quotas in place on man-made fiber neckties. However, the Editor's Note stated that the U.S. imposes quotas on a basket of miscellaneous apparel products, including man- made fiber neckties. To set the record straight: The United States maintains bilateral agreements with some 40 textile-exporting countries. Of these 40 countries, only six countries have basket quotas on man-made fiber apparel that include man-made fiber neckties. Three of these countries sent us exactly zero man- made fiber neckties in 1987. The remaining three countries accounted for only three-hundredths of 1 percent of total man-made fiber necktie imports in 1987. South Korea, on the other hand, supplied over 40 percent of total man-made fiber necktie imports in 1987, and no such basket quota exists for South Korea. The six existing basket quotas are meaningless, because these six countries are insignificant necktie suppliers. There is, therefore, nothing in any of the existing bilateral agreements that serves to restrain man-made fiber necktie imports into the United States. Gerald Andersen Executive Director Neckwear Association Of America Inc. New York 'Extreme Right Wing' Needs Explanation What might have been a mildly entertaining Europe View (Opinion, March 29) was spoiled by Susan Sachs' labeling the French and European nationalist leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the extreme right wing candidate. Ms. Sachs does not define extreme right, nor tell us what makes Mr. Le Pen extreme. That The Journal of Commerce nevertheless printed this customary liberal smear of a political opponent was, at best, careless. If nothing else, Ms. Sachs revealed her own angle of view - from the region of the extreme left, and that is defined easily. C.R. Hottelet Toms River, N.J.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Direct services to Asia and the EU have pulled more resin cargoes away from Houston, but the Gulf Coast is still the main route to the South American market.</div>

Direct services to Asia and the EU have pulled more resin cargoes away from Houston, but the Gulf Coast is still the main route to the South American market.

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<div class="phx-topic">While the Port of Houston still reigns as top gateway, resins shippers are increasingly tapping southeast US ports, thanks to their big-ship capacity and strong connectivity in east-west trades. However, President Donald Trump’s tariff actions risk cutting into the steady growth of US resin exports and have virtually shut off US exporters’ largest market, China, given the buyer’s 125% retaliatory tariffs. That is coming after a year of modest but steady growth; containerized US chemical and plastic resin exports expanded 1.2% in 2024, the third consecutive annual increase and in line with the sector’s five-year compound average growth of 2.1%, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Plastic resins, including polyethylene and polypropylene, represent 57% of US chemical exports. “It was a fairly decent year of growth,” said Shruthi Vangipuram, a senior research analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “Not extraordinary, but there were still major participants for US exports.” With almost all US production concentrated in the Gulf Coast region, resin traders and distributors heavily rely on Houston as their main export gateway. Houston handled about 41.8% of US chemical exports last year and has seen shipments increase at an average annual rate of 6.8% over the last five years, according to PIERS. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach still occupy the No. 2 spot for exports thanks to their proximity to China and high capacity. Even so, chemical exports out of the busiest US port complex have been in decline as shippers seek less congested gateways with easier rail access. Houston’s long-term export growth rates nearly match those of the ports of Charleston and Savannah, the third- and fourth-busiest export gateways for US chemicals in 2024. The two ports’ continued growth follows <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-plants-put-savannah-on-track-to-double-resin-exports-5236055">millions in investments</a> to set up nearby warehouses and facilities for packaging resins into shipping containers. <h3>‘Outgrowing’ the Gulf </h3>An ocean logistics manager for a global resins distributor and trader told the Journal of Commerce that an increasing share of his company’s exports are moving through Southeast ports thanks to the diversity of container services and routes for exports. While Houston still has a solid lead in north-south shipments, bigger vessels calling the Southeast allow more capacity on east-west trades. “We have been sending more rail cars to Savannah,” the source said. The company is moving cargoes destined for Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa through Savannah and those headed to Latin America through Houston, he added. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="298da152-273a-4ab2-8500-4925940e4b0c"></dynamic-object></div>Houston is working to add vessel capacity through its “Project 11,” which entails widening and dredging the Houston Ship Channel. Ships will have bi-directional navigation on the channel, allowing for faster berth calls. But with the channel’s depth at about 46 feet, larger post-Panamax vessels will still be somewhat limited in their ability to call Houston. “The resin business has already outgrown Houston,” the logistics manager said. “There’s just not enough capacity.” North-south trades, however, likely still managed to push Houston’s export volumes higher in 2024. Chemical volumes from the US to Brazil, for example, grew 22% last year. Vangipuram said Argentina and Colombia are also growing consumers of US resins. “Latin America is the [resins] export destination of choice for the US,” Vangipuram said. But the north-south resin trade out of the US Gulf poses its own challenges, the ocean logistics manager said, particularly with alliance carriers and those that have slot exchange deals for capacity. Because of port congestion in Brazil, many ships in north-south trades have been off schedule. Ocean carriers try to make up for the time by skipping calls at transshipment ports in the Caribbean and South America, but that can leave cargo booked through slot swaps or alliances stranded. “If the ships are coming a week late out of Brazil and the carrier has to make up time, what they are going to do is omit the other carrier’s transshipment port,” the logistics manager said. He said the cargo rolls and delays were most common at the ports of Kingston, Jamaica, and Cartagena, Colombia. With direct services to the other two largest US resins markets, Asia and Europe, shipments out of Southeast ports are not seeing similar issues. But overseas retaliation to the Trump administration’s tariffs is likely to have a major impact on the resins trade this year. After Trump put a 90-day pause on 20% reciprocal tariffs on goods from the European Union, the trading bloc similarly backed down from its own retaliatory measures. While the EU may exempt US resins from any retaliatory duties due to the region’s dependence on imports, the logistics manager said a prolonged trade war could favor resin producers in the Middle East. “Our team in Europe said that resins won’t be on the list for retaliation against US,” the manager said. “But no one has showed me anything yet that resins have been exempted. Until then, we’re being very cautious.” Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

While the Port of Houston still reigns as top gateway, resins shippers are increasingly tapping southeast US ports, thanks to their big-ship capacity and strong connectivity in east-west trades. However, President Donald Trump’s tariff actions risk cutting into the steady growth of US resin exports and have virtually shut off US exporters’ largest market, China, given the buyer’s 125% retaliatory tariffs. That is coming after a year of modest but steady growth; containerized US chemical and plastic resin exports expanded 1.2% in 2024, the third consecutive annual increase and in line with the sector’s five-year compound average growth of 2.1%, according to PIERS, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Plastic resins, including polyethylene and polypropylene, represent 57% of US chemical exports. “It was a fairly decent year of growth,” said Shruthi Vangipuram, a senior research analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “Not extraordinary, but there were still major participants for US exports.” With almost all US production concentrated in the Gulf Coast region, resin traders and distributors heavily rely on Houston as their main export gateway. Houston handled about 41.8% of US chemical exports last year and has seen shipments increase at an average annual rate of 6.8% over the last five years, according to PIERS. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach still occupy the No. 2 spot for exports thanks to their proximity to China and high capacity. Even so, chemical exports out of the busiest US port complex have been in decline as shippers seek less congested gateways with easier rail access. Houston’s long-term export growth rates nearly match those of the ports of Charleston and Savannah, the third- and fourth-busiest export gateways for US chemicals in 2024. The two ports’ continued growth follows millions in investments to set up nearby warehouses and facilities for packaging resins into shipping containers. ‘Outgrowing’ the Gulf An ocean logistics manager for a global resins distributor and trader told the Journal of Commerce that an increasing share of his company’s exports are moving through Southeast ports thanks to the diversity of container services and routes for exports. While Houston still has a solid lead in north-south shipments, bigger vessels calling the Southeast allow more capacity on east-west trades. “We have been sending more rail cars to Savannah,” the source said. The company is moving cargoes destined for Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa through Savannah and those headed to Latin America through Houston, he added. Houston is working to add vessel capacity through its “Project 11,” which entails widening and dredging the Houston Ship Channel. Ships will have bi-directional navigation on the channel, allowing for faster berth calls. But with the channel’s depth at about 46 feet, larger post-Panamax vessels will still be somewhat limited in their ability to call Houston. “The resin business has already outgrown Houston,” the logistics manager said. “There’s just not enough capacity.” North-south trades, however, likely still managed to push Houston’s export volumes higher in 2024. Chemical volumes from the US to Brazil, for example, grew 22% last year. Vangipuram said Argentina and Colombia are also growing consumers of US resins. “Latin America is the [resins] export destination of choice for the US,” Vangipuram said. But the north-south resin trade out of the US Gulf poses its own challenges, the ocean logistics manager said, particularly with alliance carriers and those that have slot exchange deals for capacity. Because of port congestion in Brazil, many ships in north-south trades have been off schedule. Ocean carriers try to make up for the time by skipping calls at transshipment ports in the Caribbean and South America, but that can leave cargo booked through slot swaps or alliances stranded. “If the ships are coming a week late out of Brazil and the carrier has to make up time, what they are going to do is omit the other carrier’s transshipment port,” the logistics manager said. He said the cargo rolls and delays were most common at the ports of Kingston, Jamaica, and Cartagena, Colombia. With direct services to the other two largest US resins markets, Asia and Europe, shipments out of Southeast ports are not seeing similar issues. But overseas retaliation to the Trump administration’s tariffs is likely to have a major impact on the resins trade this year. After Trump put a 90-day pause on 20% reciprocal tariffs on goods from the European Union, the trading bloc similarly backed down from its own retaliatory measures. While the EU may exempt US resins from any retaliatory duties due to the region’s dependence on imports, the logistics manager said a prolonged trade war could favor resin producers in the Middle East. “Our team in Europe said that resins won’t be on the list for retaliation against US,” the manager said. “But no one has showed me anything yet that resins have been exempted. Until then, we’re being very cautious.” Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Maritime

Container Shipping News

Port News

North American ports

Supply chain

Tariffs jeopardize resin volume gains for US Southeast ports

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Container lines saw a first-quarter demand boost from US shippers eager to bring in cargo before the April implementation of the Trump administration’s tariffs.</div>

Container lines saw a first-quarter demand boost from US shippers eager to bring in cargo before the April implementation of the Trump administration’s tariffs.

<div class="phx-topic">Cosco Shipping on Tuesday reported its highest first-quarter container volumes since 2021 as shippers frontloaded cargo ahead of the Trump administration’s tariffs against Chinese imports. The results echo those of other ocean carriers that will likely see volumes drop in the second quarter as the tariffs push container lines to cancel Asia-US services throughout May and into early June. Cosco reported total first-quarter volume across its container lines, including OOCL, of 6.48 million TEUs, up 7.5% from the same period last year. Total container shipping revenue for the quarter reached $7.2 billion, up 18% from a year ago. Net profit for Cosco’s container shipping business reached $1.6 billion, up 85%. The trans-Pacific market led the growth, with combined volumes on the trade reaching 1.2 million TEUs, up 16% from the first quarter of 2024. Cosco reported slower trans-Pacific volume growth of 11% relative to OOCL’s 23.8% gain. Overall trans-Pacific revenue for Cosco and OOCL reached $2.2 billion in the first quarter, up 25% from the year-prior quarter. On a per-TEU basis, Cosco saw trans-Pacific rates near $1,889, up 15% from a year ago. OOCL’s $1,591-per-TEU rate was down slightly from a year ago. Other Asian container lines also saw a first-quarter boost from heavy demand from shippers to bring in cargo before the April 9 implementation of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs that slapped a duty rate of 145% on most imports from China. <h3>Changing demand environment </h3>Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, which is a partner with Cosco and OOCL in the Ocean Alliance, reported that total revenue for the first three months of 2025 rose 24% from a year earlier. Wan Hai Lines saw its first-quarter revenue rise 34% from a year ago. But ocean carriers face a much different demand environment in the second quarter after <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/trans-pacific-capacity-cuts-accelerating-amid-sharp-reduction-in-chinese-cargo-5992769">shippers canceled container bookings</a> en masse following Trump’s tariffs. In response, the carriers have slashed weekly sailings into the US West Coast. Cosco will be operating its 10,000-TEU Bohai service from China into Long Beach on a bi-weekly basis through the first week of June, according to recent schedules for the service. The 13,000-TEU Hibiscus Express service into Long Beach will also operate bi-weekly through May. Evergreen has also blanked a June sailing on its 8,000-TEU Hangzhou Bay Bridge service after having canceled three straight weeks of sailings in May. Ocean Alliance member CMA CGM has also effectively suspended its 9,000-TEU Pearl River Express service into Los Angeles for all of May. <h3>Big ship order for OOCL </h3>The first-quarter results came as OOCL parent and Cosco subsidiary Orient Overseas (International) confirmed a $3 billion order for 14 18,500-TEU methanol-enabled, dual-fuel container ships to be built by two Cosco-affiliated shipyards in China. The deal was announced in separate OOIL and Cosco announcements to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Nine of the ships will be built by Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Company, with the other five constructed by Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering. The vessels are expected to be delivered to OOCL between the third quarter of 2028 and the third quarter of 2029. OOIL did not specifically mention whether deployment of the ships would be affected by the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/cosco-slams-us-port-fees-as-other-carriers-reckon-with-potential-costs-5989606">United States Trade Representative’s plan to levy fees</a> on Chinese-built and owned ships beginning in October. Instead, the “vessels are versatile and suitable for a wide range of trade routes and terminals,” OOIL said. The carrier said the vessels will expand its existing fleet and replace aging tonnage, allowing it to “achieve more balanced development in its global service network and enhance its core competitiveness across both traditional and emerging markets.” Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto: michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. Special correspondent Keith Wallis contributed to this report. </div>

Cosco Shipping on Tuesday reported its highest first-quarter container volumes since 2021 as shippers frontloaded cargo ahead of the Trump administration’s tariffs against Chinese imports. The results echo those of other ocean carriers that will likely see volumes drop in the second quarter as the tariffs push container lines to cancel Asia-US services throughout May and into early June. Cosco reported total first-quarter volume across its container lines, including OOCL, of 6.48 million TEUs, up 7.5% from the same period last year. Total container shipping revenue for the quarter reached $7.2 billion, up 18% from a year ago. Net profit for Cosco’s container shipping business reached $1.6 billion, up 85%. The trans-Pacific market led the growth, with combined volumes on the trade reaching 1.2 million TEUs, up 16% from the first quarter of 2024. Cosco reported slower trans-Pacific volume growth of 11% relative to OOCL’s 23.8% gain. Overall trans-Pacific revenue for Cosco and OOCL reached $2.2 billion in the first quarter, up 25% from the year-prior quarter. On a per-TEU basis, Cosco saw trans-Pacific rates near $1,889, up 15% from a year ago. OOCL’s $1,591-per-TEU rate was down slightly from a year ago. Other Asian container lines also saw a first-quarter boost from heavy demand from shippers to bring in cargo before the April 9 implementation of President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs that slapped a duty rate of 145% on most imports from China. Changing demand environment Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, which is a partner with Cosco and OOCL in the Ocean Alliance, reported that total revenue for the first three months of 2025 rose 24% from a year earlier. Wan Hai Lines saw its first-quarter revenue rise 34% from a year ago. But ocean carriers face a much different demand environment in the second quarter after shippers canceled container bookings en masse following Trump’s tariffs. In response, the carriers have slashed weekly sailings into the US West Coast. Cosco will be operating its 10,000-TEU Bohai service from China into Long Beach on a bi-weekly basis through the first week of June, according to recent schedules for the service. The 13,000-TEU Hibiscus Express service into Long Beach will also operate bi-weekly through May. Evergreen has also blanked a June sailing on its 8,000-TEU Hangzhou Bay Bridge service after having canceled three straight weeks of sailings in May. Ocean Alliance member CMA CGM has also effectively suspended its 9,000-TEU Pearl River Express service into Los Angeles for all of May. Big ship order for OOCL The first-quarter results came as OOCL parent and Cosco subsidiary Orient Overseas (International) confirmed a $3 billion order for 14 18,500-TEU methanol-enabled, dual-fuel container ships to be built by two Cosco-affiliated shipyards in China. The deal was announced in separate OOIL and Cosco announcements to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Nine of the ships will be built by Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Company, with the other five constructed by Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering. The vessels are expected to be delivered to OOCL between the third quarter of 2028 and the third quarter of 2029. OOIL did not specifically mention whether deployment of the ships would be affected by the United States Trade Representative’s plan to levy fees on Chinese-built and owned ships beginning in October. Instead, the “vessels are versatile and suitable for a wide range of trade routes and terminals,” OOIL said. The carrier said the vessels will expand its existing fleet and replace aging tonnage, allowing it to “achieve more balanced development in its global service network and enhance its core competitiveness across both traditional and emerging markets.” Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com . Special correspondent Keith Wallis contributed to this report.

Trans-Pacific

Container lines

Cosco reports strong Q1 trans-Pacific volumes amid rush to beat tariffs

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Insufficient volumes, including on the lane between the Port of Virginia and Memphis, have forced the railroad to reallocate resources to areas where it believes container business will grow in the future.</div>

Insufficient volumes, including on the lane between the Port of Virginia and Memphis, have forced the railroad to reallocate resources to areas where it believes container business will grow in the future.

<div class="phx-topic">Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) will eliminate international intermodal service on more than 20 routes along the US East Coast, including trains between the Port of Virginia and the key inland hub of Memphis, due to insufficient container volumes. The service changes will take effect May 31, according to a notice NS sent to customers that was obtained by the Journal of Commerce. The railroad did not make a formal public announcement but confirmed the details. “By reallocating those resources, we’re reinforcing our broader network to better serve our customers and to ensure we are investing in growth where it’s most impactful,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. The railroad said the services could be restored if a business case arises. Among the affected lanes are two notable routes: the Port of Virginia to Memphis and Chicago to Jacksonville. Norfolk Southern launched trains from Virginia to Memphis with <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/new-ns-norfolk-memphis-service-aims-to-grab-east-coast-cargo-shift-5202715">much fanfare in March 2023</a>, but the service never caught on among ocean carriers or shippers who had other options via the ports of Charleston and Savannah. “While we initially saw some interest from the international community for Port of Virginia-Memphis service, the volume ultimately was not strong enough to support the service sustainably over the long term,” NS said. “Our commitment to supporting international trade through the Port of Virginia remains strong, and we continue to focus on providing reliable, high-quality service for the lanes where customers need it most.” The Virginia Port Authority did not respond to requests for comment. <h3>Onward business to Puerto Rico affected </h3>NS will also discontinue service between Chicago and Jacksonville, which will impact onward business to Puerto Rico. Each year, Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation move an estimated 16,000 to 22,000 ocean containers between Chicago and Jacksonville, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the US Surface Transportation Board. While the lane was heavily utilized southbound into Florida, northbound demand remained limited. Jacksonville serves as the launching point for Jones Act services to Puerto Rico operated by Crowley Maritime, Tote Maritime and Trailer Bridge. “Ultimately, the low density of international volumes challenged our ability to provide the consistent and reliable service product that our customers expect,” NS said in its statement on the Chicago-Jacksonville service. “We have been in close communication with our ocean carrier partners to fully understand their needs and priorities. We’ve worked to ensure they have access to alternative service options that continue to support critical trade flows, including the important Puerto Rico market.” While Norfolk Southern will discontinue international trains, CSX will remain an option for shippers moving ocean boxes between Chicago and Jacksonville. NS will still operate domestic intermodal trains between the two cities for 53-foot containers or ocean boxes with local drayage arrangements from its Jacksonville terminal. The other lanes affected by the Norfolk Southern service changes handled minimal international container traffic. For example, international trains will no longer run between Atlanta and Chicago — a high-volume domestic intermodal route that is served by ports in Baltimore, New York-New Jersey and Virginia for ocean freight. NS will also terminate international service between the Port of Charleston and Huntsville, Alabama, although service will continue from Savannah. The railroad also plans to convert the Norfolk Portlock Yard exclusively for domestic intermodal operations, shifting a small amount of remaining international cargo back to on-dock facilities within the Port of Virginia. Contact Ari Ashe at <a href="mailto:ari.ashe@spglobal.com">ari.ashe@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) will eliminate international intermodal service on more than 20 routes along the US East Coast, including trains between the Port of Virginia and the key inland hub of Memphis, due to insufficient container volumes. The service changes will take effect May 31, according to a notice NS sent to customers that was obtained by the Journal of Commerce. The railroad did not make a formal public announcement but confirmed the details. “By reallocating those resources, we’re reinforcing our broader network to better serve our customers and to ensure we are investing in growth where it’s most impactful,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce. The railroad said the services could be restored if a business case arises. Among the affected lanes are two notable routes: the Port of Virginia to Memphis and Chicago to Jacksonville. Norfolk Southern launched trains from Virginia to Memphis with much fanfare in March 2023 , but the service never caught on among ocean carriers or shippers who had other options via the ports of Charleston and Savannah. “While we initially saw some interest from the international community for Port of Virginia-Memphis service, the volume ultimately was not strong enough to support the service sustainably over the long term,” NS said. “Our commitment to supporting international trade through the Port of Virginia remains strong, and we continue to focus on providing reliable, high-quality service for the lanes where customers need it most.” The Virginia Port Authority did not respond to requests for comment. Onward business to Puerto Rico affected NS will also discontinue service between Chicago and Jacksonville, which will impact onward business to Puerto Rico. Each year, Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation move an estimated 16,000 to 22,000 ocean containers between Chicago and Jacksonville, according to a Journal of Commerce analysis of data from the US Surface Transportation Board. While the lane was heavily utilized southbound into Florida, northbound demand remained limited. Jacksonville serves as the launching point for Jones Act services to Puerto Rico operated by Crowley Maritime, Tote Maritime and Trailer Bridge. “Ultimately, the low density of international volumes challenged our ability to provide the consistent and reliable service product that our customers expect,” NS said in its statement on the Chicago-Jacksonville service. “We have been in close communication with our ocean carrier partners to fully understand their needs and priorities. We’ve worked to ensure they have access to alternative service options that continue to support critical trade flows, including the important Puerto Rico market.” While Norfolk Southern will discontinue international trains, CSX will remain an option for shippers moving ocean boxes between Chicago and Jacksonville. NS will still operate domestic intermodal trains between the two cities for 53-foot containers or ocean boxes with local drayage arrangements from its Jacksonville terminal. The other lanes affected by the Norfolk Southern service changes handled minimal international container traffic. For example, international trains will no longer run between Atlanta and Chicago — a high-volume domestic intermodal route that is served by ports in Baltimore, New York-New Jersey and Virginia for ocean freight. NS will also terminate international service between the Port of Charleston and Huntsville, Alabama, although service will continue from Savannah. The railroad also plans to convert the Norfolk Portlock Yard exclusively for domestic intermodal operations, shifting a small amount of remaining international cargo back to on-dock facilities within the Port of Virginia. Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@spglobal.com .

Surface

Rail News

North-American rail

Intermodal providers

Norfolk Southern to drop international intermodal service on many USEC lanes

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Chartered flights from China to the US have been canceled and air freight traffic has declined as Washington prepares to scrap the duty-free exemption for low-value goods shipped from China and Hong Kong.</div>

Chartered flights from China to the US have been canceled and air freight traffic has declined as Washington prepares to scrap the duty-free exemption for low-value goods shipped from China and Hong Kong.

<div class="phx-topic">E-commerce volumes shipped by air on the China to US trade lane have fallen sharply over the past two weeks ahead of the Trump administration’s May 2 elimination of the duty-free exemption for low-value shipments. Two of the largest Chinese online marketplaces, Temu and Shein, have told US customers that prices will increase from this week as Washington cancels the duty-free exemption for shipments under $800 imported from China and Hong Kong. The reaction from the air cargo market has been swift. Forwarders say chartered freighter capacity from China to the US has been canceled, and data from Netherlands-based air cargo analyst WorldACD shows volume from China and Hong Kong to the US last week fell for the fourth consecutive week. “Overall, e-commerce shipment volume has dropped by approximately 50% since mid-April compared to the same period last year,” Kathy Liu, vice president of global sales and marketing at Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco Express Group, said in a market update Monday. “A lot of shippers have hit pause,” she added. “With the uncertainty around new tariffs between the US and China, many are holding back on placing new orders.” Major Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, are also planning to cancel freighter services between China and the US “in the near future,” Dimerco noted, which would reduce the already limited capacity from China to the US. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="f898c996-11b6-4f50-a739-75225f99a114"></dynamic-object></div>There was speculation in the air cargo market that there would be a rush to get shipments to the US in the air ahead of the May 2 de minimis policy changes, but no such moves have materialized, said Andy Schaefer, senior vice president and global head of air freight at forwarder Toll Group. “Both major e-commerce platforms, Temu and Shein, have already increased their pricing for several products which has resulted in lower volumes,” Schaefer told the Journal of Commerce, adding that chartered flights and block space agreements that forwarders hold with airlines on the trans-Pacific have already been canceled. “Companies sourcing products from China have reduced their shipping or are holding cargo at origin until the tariff situation with China has been resolved or a lower percentage has been agreed between the two countries,” he added. “Only items that show a low inventory in the US are being shipped for the time being.” <h3>Changing online fulfillment models </h3>Schaefer said Chinese e-commerce platforms began to change their business model in the fourth quarter of 2024, building distribution centers in North America to fulfill orders placed by US consumers. “Both Shein and Temu have also seen an increase in US companies joining their platform, effectively fulfilling orders locally,” he said. “As such, e-commerce has seen a decline in cargo demand over the past few months, and it is expected that this trend will continue.” The huge demand for e-commerce on the trans-Pacific filled hundreds of daily freighters leaving China, capacity that is being released into the market. Some of that capacity is being absorbed by US tariff exemptions for smartphones and other tech products imported from China, as well as from high demand in the semiconductor sector. “A lot of that capacity has shifted to destinations like Nuevo Laredo in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, where demand has actually gone up, especially out of Mexico,” Liu noted in the Dimerco update. While demand has fallen from China, the 90-day tariff exemption granted by the Trump administration to most of its other trading partners has seen strong export volumes continuing out of Taiwan and Southeast Asia. “We have seen a number of clients resume shipping after a brief pause. They are still actively shipping cargo to the US via air,” Emily Faulkner, the import operations and customs house brokerage director for AIT Worldwide Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. That was supported by WorldACD data, which showed that although combined traffic for China and Hong Kong to the US last week was down 16% year over year, there were export gains elsewhere, with Vietnam to the US up 42%, Taiwan 30%, Thailand 24% and Japan 12%. Still, rates out of Asia are facing pressure from changes in demand and available capacity. After seven consecutive weeks of rising rates on the China/Hong Kong to US routes, the combined average spot rates fell 5% from the previous week to $4.72 per kilogram, WorldACD data shows. Despite the strong demand from Southeast Asia, the excess capacity in the market placed downward pressure on rate levels last week, with Vietnam rates down 28%, Singapore down 11%, Taiwan 9% and Thailand rates also down 9% compared with the previous week. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

E-commerce volumes shipped by air on the China to US trade lane have fallen sharply over the past two weeks ahead of the Trump administration’s May 2 elimination of the duty-free exemption for low-value shipments. Two of the largest Chinese online marketplaces, Temu and Shein, have told US customers that prices will increase from this week as Washington cancels the duty-free exemption for shipments under $800 imported from China and Hong Kong. The reaction from the air cargo market has been swift. Forwarders say chartered freighter capacity from China to the US has been canceled, and data from Netherlands-based air cargo analyst WorldACD shows volume from China and Hong Kong to the US last week fell for the fourth consecutive week. “Overall, e-commerce shipment volume has dropped by approximately 50% since mid-April compared to the same period last year,” Kathy Liu, vice president of global sales and marketing at Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco Express Group, said in a market update Monday. “A lot of shippers have hit pause,” she added. “With the uncertainty around new tariffs between the US and China, many are holding back on placing new orders.” Major Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, are also planning to cancel freighter services between China and the US “in the near future,” Dimerco noted, which would reduce the already limited capacity from China to the US. There was speculation in the air cargo market that there would be a rush to get shipments to the US in the air ahead of the May 2 de minimis policy changes, but no such moves have materialized, said Andy Schaefer, senior vice president and global head of air freight at forwarder Toll Group. “Both major e-commerce platforms, Temu and Shein, have already increased their pricing for several products which has resulted in lower volumes,” Schaefer told the Journal of Commerce, adding that chartered flights and block space agreements that forwarders hold with airlines on the trans-Pacific have already been canceled. “Companies sourcing products from China have reduced their shipping or are holding cargo at origin until the tariff situation with China has been resolved or a lower percentage has been agreed between the two countries,” he added. “Only items that show a low inventory in the US are being shipped for the time being.” Changing online fulfillment models Schaefer said Chinese e-commerce platforms began to change their business model in the fourth quarter of 2024, building distribution centers in North America to fulfill orders placed by US consumers. “Both Shein and Temu have also seen an increase in US companies joining their platform, effectively fulfilling orders locally,” he said. “As such, e-commerce has seen a decline in cargo demand over the past few months, and it is expected that this trend will continue.” The huge demand for e-commerce on the trans-Pacific filled hundreds of daily freighters leaving China, capacity that is being released into the market. Some of that capacity is being absorbed by US tariff exemptions for smartphones and other tech products imported from China, as well as from high demand in the semiconductor sector. “A lot of that capacity has shifted to destinations like Nuevo Laredo in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, where demand has actually gone up, especially out of Mexico,” Liu noted in the Dimerco update. While demand has fallen from China, the 90-day tariff exemption granted by the Trump administration to most of its other trading partners has seen strong export volumes continuing out of Taiwan and Southeast Asia. “We have seen a number of clients resume shipping after a brief pause. They are still actively shipping cargo to the US via air,” Emily Faulkner, the import operations and customs house brokerage director for AIT Worldwide Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. That was supported by WorldACD data, which showed that although combined traffic for China and Hong Kong to the US last week was down 16% year over year, there were export gains elsewhere, with Vietnam to the US up 42%, Taiwan 30%, Thailand 24% and Japan 12%. Still, rates out of Asia are facing pressure from changes in demand and available capacity. After seven consecutive weeks of rising rates on the China/Hong Kong to US routes, the combined average spot rates fell 5% from the previous week to $4.72 per kilogram, WorldACD data shows. Despite the strong demand from Southeast Asia, the excess capacity in the market placed downward pressure on rate levels last week, with Vietnam rates down 28%, Singapore down 11%, Taiwan 9% and Thailand rates also down 9% compared with the previous week. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

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<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The issue of transit time variability in Latin America has downstream impacts for projects, with forwarders often having to get creative to figure out workarounds due to unforeseen delays. </div>

The issue of transit time variability in Latin America has downstream impacts for projects, with forwarders often having to get creative to figure out workarounds due to unforeseen delays.

<div class="phx-topic">New Orleans — A lack of predictability on Latin American trades is a bigger problem than long transit times for project shippers, speakers said during a panel at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference here. “Transit times variability is the problem, not that they are getting longer,” Carlos Cortes, North America supply chain director for CMPC Forest Products, said during the panel discussion Friday. “That doesn’t help to plan or execute supply chains.” <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5992239_0.1.jpg"></img></div>The issue of transit time variability has downstream impacts for projects, with forwarders often having to get creative to figure out workarounds due to unforeseen delays. “The transit times are frustrating,” said Jessica DelaCruz, operations manager at Dynamo Weltweit Logistik, a forwarder catering to the project market. “You have a delay of 10 days and you have engineers flying out. Everybody is upset. Regardless of whether the vessel is there, you have to come up with a solution.” In some situations, she said, “you’re splitting cargo, maybe on a container and some in a project vessel so it arrives together. But it doesn’t always work.” Richard Seeg, president of project carrier Intermarine, said one challenge in managing transit times into Latin America is that it’s not a uniform market. “We do see challenges coming through ports, but there are all different reasons for this,” Seeg said. “South America is not one country. There may be congestion in Chile or Peru caused by swells. In Brazil or Guyana, the dock may be full of cargo, or too many ships coming in. We’re trying to keep a regular schedule and if we’re stuck having to wait, it’s frustrating.” <h3>Honest talk about stakeholders </h3>Another dimension to the challenge of transit time predictability is project shippers being honest with their forwarders and carriers about the urgency of specific shipments. As one panelist put it, what’s considered “urgent” in Latin America may differ from what is “urgent” in the US or Europe. But DelaCruz said shippers need to delineate what is actually urgent. “On the operational side, we need to know when you need it by,” she said. “Is it really ready? A shipper may ask us to make five bookings with carriers, but it’s not ready when you call. And it’s not ready for two months. And now I have to call someone I just begged for space to hold off. Not all five bookings are necessarily urgent.” Cortes said shippers should be “as transparent as possible with partners and carriers.” “Sometimes we tend to exaggerate our needs and that causes problems,” he said. “We prefer to be honest and that’s helped them to understand the reality of our operations. And committing to long-term contracts to provide the baseline carriers need and make decisions themselves.” Seeg said that Intermarine has taken the position that it needs flexibility among its fleet to serve the Latin American market well. “We’re trying to predict what we’ll need to serve customers,” he said. “Within the JSI Alliance [Intermarine’s parent company], we have access to bigger ships. But the perfect ship for the market changes every six months, depending on cargo demand. We have a pool of 15 ships serving the Americas so we can adjust our fleets based on the market.” More broadly, Seeg sees the growth in inter-Americas trade continuing, and that requires shippers, forwarders and carriers to pool their knowledge of a complicated but inter-connected set of markets. “None of us have all the answers to the challenges of different countries in South America,” he said. Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

New Orleans — A lack of predictability on Latin American trades is a bigger problem than long transit times for project shippers, speakers said during a panel at the Journal of Commerce’s Breakbulk and Project Cargo Conference here. “Transit times variability is the problem, not that they are getting longer,” Carlos Cortes, North America supply chain director for CMPC Forest Products, said during the panel discussion Friday. “That doesn’t help to plan or execute supply chains.” The issue of transit time variability has downstream impacts for projects, with forwarders often having to get creative to figure out workarounds due to unforeseen delays. “The transit times are frustrating,” said Jessica DelaCruz, operations manager at Dynamo Weltweit Logistik, a forwarder catering to the project market. “You have a delay of 10 days and you have engineers flying out. Everybody is upset. Regardless of whether the vessel is there, you have to come up with a solution.” In some situations, she said, “you’re splitting cargo, maybe on a container and some in a project vessel so it arrives together. But it doesn’t always work.” Richard Seeg, president of project carrier Intermarine, said one challenge in managing transit times into Latin America is that it’s not a uniform market. “We do see challenges coming through ports, but there are all different reasons for this,” Seeg said. “South America is not one country. There may be congestion in Chile or Peru caused by swells. In Brazil or Guyana, the dock may be full of cargo, or too many ships coming in. We’re trying to keep a regular schedule and if we’re stuck having to wait, it’s frustrating.” Honest talk about stakeholders Another dimension to the challenge of transit time predictability is project shippers being honest with their forwarders and carriers about the urgency of specific shipments. As one panelist put it, what’s considered “urgent” in Latin America may differ from what is “urgent” in the US or Europe. But DelaCruz said shippers need to delineate what is actually urgent. “On the operational side, we need to know when you need it by,” she said. “Is it really ready? A shipper may ask us to make five bookings with carriers, but it’s not ready when you call. And it’s not ready for two months. And now I have to call someone I just begged for space to hold off. Not all five bookings are necessarily urgent.” Cortes said shippers should be “as transparent as possible with partners and carriers.” “Sometimes we tend to exaggerate our needs and that causes problems,” he said. “We prefer to be honest and that’s helped them to understand the reality of our operations. And committing to long-term contracts to provide the baseline carriers need and make decisions themselves.” Seeg said that Intermarine has taken the position that it needs flexibility among its fleet to serve the Latin American market well. “We’re trying to predict what we’ll need to serve customers,” he said. “Within the JSI Alliance [Intermarine’s parent company], we have access to bigger ships. But the perfect ship for the market changes every six months, depending on cargo demand. We have a pool of 15 ships serving the Americas so we can adjust our fleets based on the market.” More broadly, Seeg sees the growth in inter-Americas trade continuing, and that requires shippers, forwarders and carriers to pool their knowledge of a complicated but inter-connected set of markets. “None of us have all the answers to the challenges of different countries in South America,” he said. Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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