<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The London International Insurance and Reinsurance Market Association (Lirma) and the Institute of L</div>

The London International Insurance and Reinsurance Market Association (Lirma) and the Institute of L

<div>The London International Insurance and Reinsurance Market Association (Lirma) and the Institute of London Underwriters, which represent the London insurance market outside of Lloyd's of London, are considering bringing their operations closer together.They might even merge entirely.''There's nothing on the table, but there's nothing off the table either,'' said Tony Funnel, chief executive of the ILU, rather guardedly. However, what began as informal talks on cooperation have now become more serious.A recently established formal working party - the Trade Association Synergy Committee - is sending out surveys to all Lirma and ILU members to find out what they want.And in...

The London International Insurance and Reinsurance Market Association (Lirma) and the Institute of London Underwriters, which represent the London insurance market outside of Lloyd's of London, are considering bringing their operations closer together. They might even merge entirely.''There's nothing on the table, but there's nothing off the table either,'' said Tony Funnel, chief executive of the ILU, rather guardedly. However, what began as informal talks on cooperation have now become more serious. A recently established formal working party - the Trade Association Synergy Committee - is sending out surveys to all Lirma and ILU members to find out what they want. And in December last year the two associations merged their U.S. committees in order to boost the power of their joint representations, especially to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Lirma and the ILU have a large number of joint members, and already collaborate in many areas. There is a joint claims-processing service, the London Processing Center, established in 1994, and the two combine on various efforts such as looking at the future of information technology in the market. But, particularly with a Lloyd's renewed in strength and capacity, a complete merger is now considered genuinely possible. ''The strength of Lloyd's post R&R (reconstruction and renewal program) makes people think hard about some of the representational areas,'' said Mr. Funnell. ''Our combined clout would have to be larger than our separate clouts,'' he joked. Lloyd's would welcome a joining of the two, spokesman Nick Doak said. ''Not because we think we're so big and powerful that it would threaten us competitively,'' he said. ''We would welcome any strengthening of the London market, because we are part of the London market.'' He argued that the joining together of the ILU and Lirma would represent a strengthening because it would help bring down costs. He pointed to a recent report that claimed UK350 million ($560 million) a year in administrative costs could be saved by joining the ILU, Lirma and Lloyd's together. A London Market Strategy Committee, which includes representatives from all three, is considering just that, he said. However, there is competition between Lloyd's and the rest of the market as it stands, Mr. Doak pointed out. ''On the one hand, it's a co-insurance situation because a risk can be placed partly at Lloyd's, partly with the companies,'' he said. ''But at the same time there are competitive elements within it.'' Marie-Louise Rossi, chief executive officer at Lirma, said talks of closer cooperation made sense. ''We said, 'Look, we've got these bits of cooperation going on. Isn't it time we pulled them all together and had a look at them?' '' she said. ''The two associations have been cooperating more and more on a number of issues and we are now looking formally at ways in which these could be extended, subject to whatever views our members express,'' said Mark Bayliss, spokesman for Lirma.

NON-LLOYD'S MARKETS STUDY POSSIBILITY OF JOINING FORCES \ LIRMA, ILU IN TALKS TO COMBINE THEIR CLOUT

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">A group of seven Asia-based regional carriers are collaborating to add a weekly long-haul service on the eastbound trans-Pacific despite bearish market signals. </div>

A group of seven Asia-based regional carriers are collaborating to add a weekly long-haul service on the eastbound trans-Pacific despite bearish market signals.

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<div class="phx-topic">A consortium of seven regional Asia-based carriers will expand into the long-haul trans-Pacific trade in April with a joint North Asia-Mexico weekly express service, bringing at least 15,000 TEUs in new capacity to the growing trade. But forwarders say spot rates may already be under pressure due to overcapacity. Each of the seven carriers will provide one vessel with a nominal capacity of between 2,200 to 2,800 TEUs, Dubai’s Emirates Shipping said this week. Other carriers in the service group include Hong Kong-listed TS Lines, Singapore-headquartered SeaLead, Thailand’s Regional Container Lines, Sinotrans Container Line from China, and South Korean carriers Korea Marine Transport Company and Sinokor Merchant Marine. The full rotation for the service is Shanghai-Qingdao-Busan-Manzanillo (Mexico)-Shanghai, with a transit time of 21 days from Busan to Manzanillo, 23 days from Qingdao and 25 days from Shanghai, the carriers confirmed. Emirates Shipping said the total roundtrip voyage will be 49 days. The new service launches from Shanghai on April 30. Of the seven carriers, only SeaLead has existing Asia-America services. “Our new Asia Mexico Express service strengthens links between China, South Korea, and Mexico, enabling faster cargo transportation,” Bernd Meyer, SeaLead’s global director of sales and business development, said. <h3>Slipping spot rates </h3>The new service comes ahead of an expected decline in China-Mexico freight rates next month as traditional long-haul carriers, including Ocean Network Express (ONE, add further capacity on the trade. “In the current context, with weekly vessel capacity reaching historic highs and the uncertainty generated by the US-led trade war, vessel utilization is below 50% again, causing the short-term rate to accelerate its decline during March, targeting $1,500 per [FEU],” said Eternity International Freight Forwarder México President Nicolas Portenza in a March 12 report. “This situation could lead to the lowest ocean freight rate [on the China-Mexico trade] in the last five years.” The new service from the Asia-based carriers would seem to come at an odd time for the trade. "China-Mexico rates are almost back at where they were [a year and a half] ago," Peter Sand, chief analyst at online benchmarking platform Xeneta, told the Journal of Commerce. "In terms of capacity, currently the China-Mexico market seems to be satisfied.” Nevertheless, carriers are trying to boost rate levels. Hapag Lloyd issued a general rate increase (GRI) Monday on shipments from Asia to the West Coast of South America, the East Coast of South America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The GRI is set to go into effect on April 1 and would add $500 per TEU and $1,000 per FEU for both high cube and reefer containers. Contact Keith Wallis at <a href="mailto:keithwallis@hotmail.com">keithwallis@hotmail.com</a>. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:laura.robb@spglobal.com">Laura.Robb@spglobal.com.</a></div>

A consortium of seven regional Asia-based carriers will expand into the long-haul trans-Pacific trade in April with a joint North Asia-Mexico weekly express service, bringing at least 15,000 TEUs in new capacity to the growing trade. But forwarders say spot rates may already be under pressure due to overcapacity. Each of the seven carriers will provide one vessel with a nominal capacity of between 2,200 to 2,800 TEUs, Dubai’s Emirates Shipping said this week. Other carriers in the service group include Hong Kong-listed TS Lines, Singapore-headquartered SeaLead, Thailand’s Regional Container Lines, Sinotrans Container Line from China, and South Korean carriers Korea Marine Transport Company and Sinokor Merchant Marine. The full rotation for the service is Shanghai-Qingdao-Busan-Manzanillo (Mexico)-Shanghai, with a transit time of 21 days from Busan to Manzanillo, 23 days from Qingdao and 25 days from Shanghai, the carriers confirmed. Emirates Shipping said the total roundtrip voyage will be 49 days. The new service launches from Shanghai on April 30. Of the seven carriers, only SeaLead has existing Asia-America services. “Our new Asia Mexico Express service strengthens links between China, South Korea, and Mexico, enabling faster cargo transportation,” Bernd Meyer, SeaLead’s global director of sales and business development, said. Slipping spot rates The new service comes ahead of an expected decline in China-Mexico freight rates next month as traditional long-haul carriers, including Ocean Network Express (ONE, add further capacity on the trade. “In the current context, with weekly vessel capacity reaching historic highs and the uncertainty generated by the US-led trade war, vessel utilization is below 50% again, causing the short-term rate to accelerate its decline during March, targeting $1,500 per [FEU],” said Eternity International Freight Forwarder México President Nicolas Portenza in a March 12 report. “This situation could lead to the lowest ocean freight rate [on the China-Mexico trade] in the last five years.” The new service from the Asia-based carriers would seem to come at an odd time for the trade. "China-Mexico rates are almost back at where they were [a year and a half] ago," Peter Sand, chief analyst at online benchmarking platform Xeneta, told the Journal of Commerce. "In terms of capacity, currently the China-Mexico market seems to be satisfied.” Nevertheless, carriers are trying to boost rate levels. Hapag Lloyd issued a general rate increase (GRI) Monday on shipments from Asia to the West Coast of South America, the East Coast of South America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The GRI is set to go into effect on April 1 and would add $500 per TEU and $1,000 per FEU for both high cube and reefer containers. Contact Keith Wallis at  keithwallis@hotmail.com . Contact Laura Robb at Laura.Robb@spglobal.com.

Maritime

Container Shipping News

Container lines

Trans-Pacific

International ports

New capacity coming to Asia-Mexico trade despite recent rate pressure

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The growing backlog of boxes awaiting a return to Asia has resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how best to address the problem.</div>

The growing backlog of boxes awaiting a return to Asia has resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how best to address the problem.

<div class="phx-topic">The surge in imports landing in Southern California during January amid a rush to beat new US tariffs and Lunar New Year factory closures has resulted in a significant buildup of empty containers awaiting a return trip to Asia in drayage yards and marine terminals. The growing backlog has also resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how to address the problem. The empties are creating a costly logistics problem for drayage operators in Southern California, according to Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association. Schrap said many of the empties are sitting on chassis at the yards of drayage operators, taking up space and inhibiting the return of the equipment before free storage time runs out at the marine terminals. One way to address the problem is for marine terminals to open more appointment slots for truckers so they can return the containers and chassis before detention and demurrage charges kick in, Schrap told the Journal of Commerce. “If you can’t get an appointment, you have to pay the late fees and demurrage fees,” he said. The threat of tariffs from the new Trump administration and an earlier-than-normal Lunar New Year that began Jan. 29 resulted in a cargo rush in Southern California at the start of the year. Imports from Asia were up 31.3% in Long Beach in January and 12.6% in Los Angeles year over year, according to PIERS, a Journal of Commerce sister product within S&amp;P Global. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="23e67c9e-b9d6-4eb9-a4ca-6b3ac6e2cb07"></dynamic-object></div>At the same time, US exports through Southern California are down, so most of the containers must be returned to Asia empty. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told a press conference this week that exports in February from Los Angeles were down 18% year over year, while empty containers were up 16%. <h3>Trucker appointment slots a factor </h3>Because the empties cannot be returned to Asia quickly enough to prevent the containers from accumulating at the marine terminals, they have created a backlog at some terminals and at drayage operators’ facilities in Southern California. “Volumes are high. We get it,” Schrap said. But Schrap said the marine terminals continue to make it difficult for truckers to get sufficient appointment slots for empty container returns. Also, he noted, some terminals will only allow an empty to be returned if the trucker also picks up a loaded inbound container, a process known as a dual transaction. Terminal operators disagree with Schrap’s assessment. They note that Los Angeles-Long Beach is the only US port complex to consistently keep its gates open for 10 shifts each week. The terminals said they offer sufficient appointments to handle empty container returns, but a number of slots go unfilled each day because many truckers do not want to make appointments at inconvenient times, such as late at night or on weekends. SSA Marine, which operates three of the six container terminals in Long Beach, intentionally caps its truck traffic during the day gates in order to push more truck calls into the night shift. If SSA and other terminals didn’t do that, the freeways from the port would be overwhelmed during daytime hours, said Sal Ferrigno, SSA’s vice president in Southern California. Ferrigno said SSA attempts to maintain a mix of 55% of truck calls during the day shift and 45% at night. However, drayage companies are not using most of the nighttime slots that are available to them. “Those guys need to work at night,” Ferrigno said. Schrap said the empty container situation varies from ocean carrier to ocean carrier and terminal to terminal. Alan McCorkle, president of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles, said containers have been flowing freely at his facility despite the January cargo surge and a February that was stronger than usual. Yusen, according to McCorkle, continues to experience unused trucker appointment slots during the terminal’s day and evening shifts. About 6% to 12% of its daytime appointment slots go unfilled or are no-shows, and about 16% to 20% of its nighttime appointments are not used, he said. Yet another factor at work this time of year is that terminals must catch up with the backlog of empty containers that occurs when ocean carriers blank sailings during the Lunar New Year lull, said Noel Hacegaba, COO at the Port of Long Beach. “Terminals, in an effort to manage blank sailings, are limiting the return of empties,” he said. “Because of the strong influx of imports in recent months, there are more empties across the system that need to be repositioned back to Asia.” <h3>Who should pay for container storage? </h3>Schrap said an even greater problem for truckers is “a complete unwillingness” by ocean carriers and intermodal equipment providers to pay drayage companies for storing their containers and chassis until the units can be returned to the terminals. “History has shown that it is cheaper for [equipment providers] to stage boxes at motor carrier yards [at no cost] as opposed to finding off/near-dock return locations or paying the MTO [marine terminal operator] to store them,” Schrap said. Seroka noted that according to the Pool of Pools, which is operated by the three largest chassis providers in Southern California, the average chassis street dwell time in the region is about six days. “We’d like to see it at four days,” Seroka said. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at <a href="mailto:bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com">bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

The surge in imports landing in Southern California during January amid a rush to beat new US tariffs and Lunar New Year factory closures has resulted in a significant buildup of empty containers awaiting a return trip to Asia in drayage yards and marine terminals. The growing backlog has also resulted in finger pointing among stakeholders over how to address the problem. The empties are creating a costly logistics problem for drayage operators in Southern California, according to Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association. Schrap said many of the empties are sitting on chassis at the yards of drayage operators, taking up space and inhibiting the return of the equipment before free storage time runs out at the marine terminals. One way to address the problem is for marine terminals to open more appointment slots for truckers so they can return the containers and chassis before detention and demurrage charges kick in, Schrap told the Journal of Commerce. “If you can’t get an appointment, you have to pay the late fees and demurrage fees,” he said. The threat of tariffs from the new Trump administration and an earlier-than-normal Lunar New Year that began Jan. 29 resulted in a cargo rush in Southern California at the start of the year. Imports from Asia were up 31.3% in Long Beach in January and 12.6% in Los Angeles year over year, according to PIERS, a Journal of Commerce sister product within S&P Global. At the same time, US exports through Southern California are down, so most of the containers must be returned to Asia empty. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told a press conference this week that exports in February from Los Angeles were down 18% year over year, while empty containers were up 16%. Trucker appointment slots a factor Because the empties cannot be returned to Asia quickly enough to prevent the containers from accumulating at the marine terminals, they have created a backlog at some terminals and at drayage operators’ facilities in Southern California. “Volumes are high. We get it,” Schrap said. But Schrap said the marine terminals continue to make it difficult for truckers to get sufficient appointment slots for empty container returns. Also, he noted, some terminals will only allow an empty to be returned if the trucker also picks up a loaded inbound container, a process known as a dual transaction. Terminal operators disagree with Schrap’s assessment. They note that Los Angeles-Long Beach is the only US port complex to consistently keep its gates open for 10 shifts each week. The terminals said they offer sufficient appointments to handle empty container returns, but a number of slots go unfilled each day because many truckers do not want to make appointments at inconvenient times, such as late at night or on weekends. SSA Marine, which operates three of the six container terminals in Long Beach, intentionally caps its truck traffic during the day gates in order to push more truck calls into the night shift. If SSA and other terminals didn’t do that, the freeways from the port would be overwhelmed during daytime hours, said Sal Ferrigno, SSA’s vice president in Southern California. Ferrigno said SSA attempts to maintain a mix of 55% of truck calls during the day shift and 45% at night. However, drayage companies are not using most of the nighttime slots that are available to them. “Those guys need to work at night,” Ferrigno said. Schrap said the empty container situation varies from ocean carrier to ocean carrier and terminal to terminal. Alan McCorkle, president of Yusen Terminals in Los Angeles, said containers have been flowing freely at his facility despite the January cargo surge and a February that was stronger than usual. Yusen, according to McCorkle, continues to experience unused trucker appointment slots during the terminal’s day and evening shifts. About 6% to 12% of its daytime appointment slots go unfilled or are no-shows, and about 16% to 20% of its nighttime appointments are not used, he said. Yet another factor at work this time of year is that terminals must catch up with the backlog of empty containers that occurs when ocean carriers blank sailings during the Lunar New Year lull, said Noel Hacegaba, COO at the Port of Long Beach. “Terminals, in an effort to manage blank sailings, are limiting the return of empties,” he said. “Because of the strong influx of imports in recent months, there are more empties across the system that need to be repositioned back to Asia.” Who should pay for container storage? Schrap said an even greater problem for truckers is “a complete unwillingness” by ocean carriers and intermodal equipment providers to pay drayage companies for storing their containers and chassis until the units can be returned to the terminals. “History has shown that it is cheaper for [equipment providers] to stage boxes at motor carrier yards [at no cost] as opposed to finding off/near-dock return locations or paying the MTO [marine terminal operator] to store them,” Schrap said. Seroka noted that according to the Pool of Pools, which is operated by the three largest chassis providers in Southern California, the average chassis street dwell time in the region is about six days. “We’d like to see it at four days,” Seroka said. Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bill.mongelluzzo@spglobal.com .

Port News

North American ports

Marine terminals

Empty containers piling up in Los Angeles-Long Beach after January import surge

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Canada’s labor minister will take a direct hand after the mediated talks for a new longshore contract at the port failed to achieve a deal after 18 months of negotiations.</div>

Canada’s labor minister will take a direct hand after the mediated talks for a new longshore contract at the port failed to achieve a deal after 18 months of negotiations.

<div class="phx-topic">Canada’s government is now going to arbitrate longshore labor negotiations at the Port of Montreal after an impasse was declared between maritime employers and the local dockworkers union after 18 months of talks for a new master contract. Montreal’s Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce late Wednesday that the special mediator overseeing negotiations with Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees “no longer saw any potential agreement between the two parties and has ended the mediation process.” The MEA and Local 375 both requested 90 days of mediated talks to negotiate a settlement after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) said in November that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/bc-montreal-ports-set-to-reopen-under-orders-from-canadas-labor-chief-5792214">it would force arbitration on both sides to resolve talks</a> for a new master contract covering 1,300 dockworkers. The last master contract expired at the end of 2023. Following the initial mediation period, both sides requested a further 30-day extension from the CIRB, which expired last week. The CIRB intervened in the matter after <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/port-of-montreal-to-face-three-day-strike-against-two-terminals-next-week-5737483">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-dockworkers-target-mscs-terminals-for-strike-this-week-5781453">labor</a> <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-dockworkers-to-refuse-overtime-in-latest-salvo-against-port-employers-5745362">actions</a> by Local 375 hit Montreal over the course of October, straining cargo flows and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-seeking-longshore-deal-ahead-of-capacity-expansions-5966435">testing shippers’ trust in the gateway</a>. Both sides can now either agree on an arbitrator or Canada’s Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon can appoint one. Once appointed, the arbitrator generally has 60 days to issue their orders about terms for a new master contract. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com ">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>.</div>

Canada’s government is now going to arbitrate longshore labor negotiations at the Port of Montreal after an impasse was declared between maritime employers and the local dockworkers union after 18 months of talks for a new master contract. Montreal’s Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce late Wednesday that the special mediator overseeing negotiations with Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees “no longer saw any potential agreement between the two parties and has ended the mediation process.” The MEA and Local 375 both requested 90 days of mediated talks to negotiate a settlement after the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) said in November that it would force arbitration on both sides to resolve talks for a new master contract covering 1,300 dockworkers. The last master contract expired at the end of 2023. Following the initial mediation period, both sides requested a further 30-day extension from the CIRB, which expired last week. The CIRB intervened in the matter after multiple labor actions by Local 375 hit Montreal over the course of October, straining cargo flows and testing shippers’ trust in the gateway . Both sides can now either agree on an arbitrator or Canada’s Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon can appoint one. Once appointed, the arbitrator generally has 60 days to issue their orders about terms for a new master contract. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Longshore labor

Montreal longshore labor talks head to arbitration after impasse

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The latest salvo in the US-induced global tariff war comes as the EU said Thursday that a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey will take effect from mid-April.</div>

The latest salvo in the US-induced global tariff war comes as the EU said Thursday that a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey will take effect from mid-April.

<div class="phx-topic">A coalition of US wine importers, retailers and restaurants has told members to suspend all shipments from the European Union until greater clarity emerges on the level of tariffs to be imposed on European wine and spirits by the Trump administration. That comes as the EU said Thursday that a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey will take effect from mid-April, a reciprocal measure that was in response to tariffs placed on all steel and aluminium imports to the US. After the EU announced its tariff on US whiskey, Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs to 200% on wine and spirits imports from the “hostile and abusive” EU. The threat was enough for the US Wine Trade Alliance (USWTA), a collection of hundreds of importers, to issue a notice on Wednesday urging importers to halt all shipments of wine, beer and spirits from the EU. USWTA fears the tariffs on the beverages could be imposed from April 2. Alison Leavitt, managing director of the US-based Wine and Spirits Shippers’ Association, said many other companies have also stopped their orders from the EU or have requested a stop on shipments. “The uncertainty is the biggest problem, and it is hugely disruptive,” Leavitt told the Journal of Commerce. “The tariffs will have a devastating impact on the [US] wine business.” Europe sends wine valued at more than €4.5 billion ($4.89 billion) a year to the US, according to European wine industry representative Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins. <h3>No guarantee of on-time arrival </h3>Leavitt said for US importers, anything that is not already on the water will not arrive before the beginning of April, and even then, there is no guarantee that the shipments will be on time. “Many containers booked to arrive pre-April 1 are not going to arrive in time based on the massive delays caused by the ocean carrier disruption with almost all vessels delayed by seven to 14 days over the last weeks,” she said, adding that some companies were arranging air freight for high-value goods. Ocean carriers are in the midst of a reshuffling of alliances, with new services being phased in and often running in parallel with old services. Carriers have warned previously that disruption was likely during the transition period that will only be completed by the summer. But if there are lengthy delays on the trans-Atlantic, they will not be coming from Gemini Cooperation members Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, according to Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. “As far as the Gemini voyages are concerned, when we look at the schedule reliability data, we are looking at very high on-time arrival percentages in North America,” he said Thursday during the carrier’s 2024 annual results press conference. He added that across the Gemini network, schedule reliability is currently near 90%. Habben Jansen said there was also no sign of a slowdown in volume on the Europe to US routes, with this week having the strongest bookings since Gemini was launched on Feb. 1. “It is normal people would think a little bit harder about whether to ramp up volume when we see high tariffs coming, but so far we do not see declines in bookings [on the trans-Atlantic],” he said. <h3>Rate increases, surcharges coming in April </h3>Meanwhile, ocean carriers are lining up trans-Atlantic rate increases and “peak season surcharges” in April that, if accepted by the market, will significantly ramp up price levels that have been declining steadily since late December. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="fa309dd3-ee6c-427e-9173-66d782c66dbf"></dynamic-object></div>Mediterranean Shipping Co. set its freight-all-kinds (FAK) rate from Antwerp to New York at a hefty $7,000 per FEU, while CMA CGM’s Rotterdam to New York rate was set at $3,026/FEU. For context, the North Europe to US East Coast spot rate this week was at $2,000/FEU, down 13% since the beginning of the year, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. On the Mediterranean-US trade lane, Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced separate peak season surcharges. From April 5, Hapag-Lloyd will add $750 to all types of containers and Maersk will charge $400 per box. Rate benchmarking platform Xeneta this week assessed average spot rates from the Mediterranean to the US East Coast at $3,355/FEU, down 8.4% since Jan. 1. The latest available trans-Atlantic volume data is for February, so any frontloading to get ahead of the tariffs to be imposed on the European Union on April 2 by the Trump administration is not yet reflected in the data. February volume fell 8.7% year over year to 154,090 TEUs, according to PIERS, also part of S&amp;P Global. On Mediterranean to US routes, volume edged up 1.7% year over year to 128,230 TEUs. Contact Greg Knowler at <a href="mailto:greg.knowler@spglobal.com">greg.knowler@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

A coalition of US wine importers, retailers and restaurants has told members to suspend all shipments from the European Union until greater clarity emerges on the level of tariffs to be imposed on European wine and spirits by the Trump administration. That comes as the EU said Thursday that a 50% tax on imports of US-produced whiskey will take effect from mid-April, a reciprocal measure that was in response to tariffs placed on all steel and aluminium imports to the US. After the EU announced its tariff on US whiskey, Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs to 200% on wine and spirits imports from the “hostile and abusive” EU. The threat was enough for the US Wine Trade Alliance (USWTA), a collection of hundreds of importers, to issue a notice on Wednesday urging importers to halt all shipments of wine, beer and spirits from the EU. USWTA fears the tariffs on the beverages could be imposed from April 2. Alison Leavitt, managing director of the US-based Wine and Spirits Shippers’ Association, said many other companies have also stopped their orders from the EU or have requested a stop on shipments. “The uncertainty is the biggest problem, and it is hugely disruptive,” Leavitt told the Journal of Commerce. “The tariffs will have a devastating impact on the [US] wine business.” Europe sends wine valued at more than €4.5 billion ($4.89 billion) a year to the US, according to European wine industry representative Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins. No guarantee of on-time arrival Leavitt said for US importers, anything that is not already on the water will not arrive before the beginning of April, and even then, there is no guarantee that the shipments will be on time. “Many containers booked to arrive pre-April 1 are not going to arrive in time based on the massive delays caused by the ocean carrier disruption with almost all vessels delayed by seven to 14 days over the last weeks,” she said, adding that some companies were arranging air freight for high-value goods. Ocean carriers are in the midst of a reshuffling of alliances, with new services being phased in and often running in parallel with old services. Carriers have warned previously that disruption was likely during the transition period that will only be completed by the summer. But if there are lengthy delays on the trans-Atlantic, they will not be coming from Gemini Cooperation members Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, according to Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. “As far as the Gemini voyages are concerned, when we look at the schedule reliability data, we are looking at very high on-time arrival percentages in North America,” he said Thursday during the carrier’s 2024 annual results press conference. He added that across the Gemini network, schedule reliability is currently near 90%. Habben Jansen said there was also no sign of a slowdown in volume on the Europe to US routes, with this week having the strongest bookings since Gemini was launched on Feb. 1. “It is normal people would think a little bit harder about whether to ramp up volume when we see high tariffs coming, but so far we do not see declines in bookings [on the trans-Atlantic],” he said. Rate increases, surcharges coming in April Meanwhile, ocean carriers are lining up trans-Atlantic rate increases and “peak season surcharges” in April that, if accepted by the market, will significantly ramp up price levels that have been declining steadily since late December. Mediterranean Shipping Co. set its freight-all-kinds (FAK) rate from Antwerp to New York at a hefty $7,000 per FEU, while CMA CGM’s Rotterdam to New York rate was set at $3,026/FEU. For context, the North Europe to US East Coast spot rate this week was at $2,000/FEU, down 13% since the beginning of the year, according to Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. On the Mediterranean-US trade lane, Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced separate peak season surcharges. From April 5, Hapag-Lloyd will add $750 to all types of containers and Maersk will charge $400 per box. Rate benchmarking platform Xeneta this week assessed average spot rates from the Mediterranean to the US East Coast at $3,355/FEU, down 8.4% since Jan. 1. The latest available trans-Atlantic volume data is for February, so any frontloading to get ahead of the tariffs to be imposed on the European Union on April 2 by the Trump administration is not yet reflected in the data. February volume fell 8.7% year over year to 154,090 TEUs, according to PIERS, also part of S&P Global. On Mediterranean to US routes, volume edged up 1.7% year over year to 128,230 TEUs. Contact Greg Knowler at greg.knowler@spglobal.com .

Trans-Atlantic

Jittery US wine coalition urges hold on EU imports over Trump tariff threat

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Montreal’s port chief says a successful outcome after nearly two years of talks between port employers and the longshore union will be critical to restoring shipper trust. </div>

Montreal’s port chief says a successful outcome after nearly two years of talks between port employers and the longshore union will be critical to restoring shipper trust.

<div class="phx-topic">The Port of Montreal’s chief says a new contract with the port’s longshore union will help restore shipper trust in sending cargoes through Canada’s main eastern gateway. That labor peace will be critical as Montreal expects to play a larger role in the country’s international trade due to the ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Ottawa. One year into her new role, Montreal Port Authority (MPA) Chief Executive Julie Gascon told the Journal of Commerce last week that after the port’s last labor disruption in 2024 — its third in as many years — shippers began diverting more cargo away from Montreal. Gascon said the port needs to restore trust in its reliability, particularly as it presses ahead with plans for developing a new container terminal. “In terms of operational performance, that labor instability makes it difficult,” she said. “We’ve lost some volume because the confidence for some of [the beneficial cargo owners] and shipping lines has been eroded.” Montreal’s dockworkers have been working without a contract since the last one expired at the end of 2023. In a bid to exert pressure on maritime employers, dockworkers staged a series of <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/port-of-montreal-to-face-three-day-strike-against-two-terminals-next-week-5737483">port-wide work stoppages</a>, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-dockworkers-target-mscs-terminals-for-strike-this-week-5781453">walkouts</a> and <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-dockworkers-to-refuse-overtime-in-latest-salvo-against-port-employers-5745362">refusals of work overtime</a> throughout October. To end the labor actions, the Canada Industrial Relations Board last November said it would force arbitration on both sides in the long-running standoff. However, Montreal’s Maritime Employers Association (MEA), which directly hires longshore labor at the port, and Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) requested a mediation period for a negotiated contract covering the 1,300 dockworkers. Late Wednesday, the MEA confirmed that negotiations with Local 375 will now go to arbitration following a breakdown in mediated talks. Gascon, who spoke before the impasse was declared, said a deal reached under mediation, instead of under arbitration where one side’s terms may be forced on the other without negotiation, is preferable for ensuring long-term labor peace. However, it’s also important to have arbitration as a backstop for restoring consistent vessel service at the port. “For ports, shipping lines are looking for the same thing: low congestion, operational efficiencies and stability, and that it’s an acceptable cost,” Gascon said. “We’ve eroded a little bit of their confidence on the labor side. “Arbitration doesn’t normally yield a longer-term agreement because it doesn’t address root-cause issues,” she added. “A negotiated agreement allows them to work on those issues collaboratively.” <h3>Capacity boost from Contrecoeur project </h3>Gascon said restoring trust in Montreal among shippers and ocean carriers will be critical as Canada looks to navigate fresh tensions with the Trump administration. While Montreal doesn’t handle any cargoes from the US, Gascon said the port is looking to enhance its capacity to handle more trade lanes. To that end, Quebec’s government recently <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/quebec-provides-new-funding-for-proposed-montreal-terminal-citing-us-trade-tensions-5947783">provided more funding to Montreal’s Contrecoeur marine terminal project</a>. Gascon, a former Canadian Coast Guard mariner, said Montreal is also working with federal agencies and river pilots to start trialing the navigation of larger ships on the St. Lawrence River, which would allow the port to handle direct services from Asia. “Without investing another dollar in dredging, we can bring in vessels of different sizes,” Gascon said. “It’s really important for Montreal to pivot to the more modern vessels. “If we do not build this infrastructure, when the demand comes, we will not be ready,” she added. “Contrecoeur has now become critical to the diversification effort of the country.” Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The Port of Montreal’s chief says a new contract with the port’s longshore union will help restore shipper trust in sending cargoes through Canada’s main eastern gateway. That labor peace will be critical as Montreal expects to play a larger role in the country’s international trade due to the ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Ottawa. One year into her new role, Montreal Port Authority (MPA) Chief Executive Julie Gascon told the Journal of Commerce last week that after the port’s last labor disruption in 2024 — its third in as many years — shippers began diverting more cargo away from Montreal. Gascon said the port needs to restore trust in its reliability, particularly as it presses ahead with plans for developing a new container terminal. “In terms of operational performance, that labor instability makes it difficult,” she said. “We’ve lost some volume because the confidence for some of [the beneficial cargo owners] and shipping lines has been eroded.” Montreal’s dockworkers have been working without a contract since the last one expired at the end of 2023. In a bid to exert pressure on maritime employers, dockworkers staged a series of port-wide work stoppages , walkouts and refusals of work overtime throughout October. To end the labor actions, the Canada Industrial Relations Board last November said it would force arbitration on both sides in the long-running standoff. However, Montreal’s Maritime Employers Association (MEA), which directly hires longshore labor at the port, and Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) requested a mediation period for a negotiated contract covering the 1,300 dockworkers. Late Wednesday, the MEA confirmed that negotiations with Local 375 will now go to arbitration following a breakdown in mediated talks. Gascon, who spoke before the impasse was declared, said a deal reached under mediation, instead of under arbitration where one side’s terms may be forced on the other without negotiation, is preferable for ensuring long-term labor peace. However, it’s also important to have arbitration as a backstop for restoring consistent vessel service at the port. “For ports, shipping lines are looking for the same thing: low congestion, operational efficiencies and stability, and that it’s an acceptable cost,” Gascon said. “We’ve eroded a little bit of their confidence on the labor side. “Arbitration doesn’t normally yield a longer-term agreement because it doesn’t address root-cause issues,” she added. “A negotiated agreement allows them to work on those issues collaboratively.” Capacity boost from Contrecoeur project Gascon said restoring trust in Montreal among shippers and ocean carriers will be critical as Canada looks to navigate fresh tensions with the Trump administration. While Montreal doesn’t handle any cargoes from the US, Gascon said the port is looking to enhance its capacity to handle more trade lanes. To that end, Quebec’s government recently provided more funding to Montreal’s Contrecoeur marine terminal project . Gascon, a former Canadian Coast Guard mariner, said Montreal is also working with federal agencies and river pilots to start trialing the navigation of larger ships on the St. Lawrence River, which would allow the port to handle direct services from Asia. “Without investing another dollar in dredging, we can bring in vessels of different sizes,” Gascon said. “It’s really important for Montreal to pivot to the more modern vessels. “If we do not build this infrastructure, when the demand comes, we will not be ready,” she added. “Contrecoeur has now become critical to the diversification effort of the country.” Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Montreal seeking longshore deal ahead of capacity expansions

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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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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

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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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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