Container lines

Just as US agricultural exports received a boost from the US-China phase one trade deal, the global economic impact of the coronavirus threatens to put the brakes on ag exports to Asia.

Pressure is building as some shippers fail to pick up containers because warehouses are full or closed due to not being deemed essential service providers responding to COVID-19, or because retailers have requested delayed deliveries at distribution centers.

Reports of cancelled Asia to North America ocean bookings are a sharp reversal from just a few weeks ago, when shippers were looking to accelerate shipments through the supply chain to replenish inventories depleted due to the prolonged China shutdown.

Confirmation of PIL's debt woes follow weeks of speculation about the world's 10th- largest container line, which since mid-February has pulled out of the trans-Pacific trade, sold six 11,923-TEU container ships, and divested ts South Pacific subsidiary, Pacific Direct Line.

Non-vessel operating common carriers say the small drop in trans-Pacific eastbound spot rates is a temporary blip.

“The industry is much better prepared,” to ride out the impact from COVID-19. There’s little risk of bankruptcy or major merger and acquisition activity this year, said Rahul Kapoor, head of research and analytics, maritime and trade at IHS Markit.

Cosco Shipping is adding a route linking the US Gulf Coast with Brazil and other parts of South America, despite data showing trade growth between the US and Latin America slowed last year.

The dearth of Asia volumes will give way to surges hitting North American and European ports that may be short-lived as recessionary conditions dampen demand.

While Chinese manufacturing and trucking capacity is recovering as workers return from quarantine, the surge of containerized exports being produced threaten to overwhelm some North American ports and inland networks.

BCOs, trucking groups, and transportation intermediaries urge the Federal Maritime Commission to adopt its proposed rule to provide shipping lines guidance as to when they should be able to charge detention and demurrage fees.

Double-digit week-over-week increase in West Coast spot rate Friday reflects a surge in US imports leaving Chinese ports, as well as the tightening of capacity due to blank sailings.

Wracked by the US-China trade war and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), US imports from Asia and China in February hit three and four-year lows, respectively.

Maersk and MSC will upsize three more vessel calls to Los Angeles and Long Beach beginning in late March as bookings rise and empty containers continue to pile up in Southern California.

Big capacity cuts fueled by coronavirus-related disruptions have resulted in large rate hikes on India trade lanes.

The nine container lines that form the Digital Container Shipping Association have released guidelines intended to give all carriers a "common language" and "tasked-based approach" to meeting an IMO resolution around vessel cybersecurity preparedness.

If shipments of spring and summer merchandise that were disrupted by factory closures in China due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) merge with back-to-school shipments that normally begin to move in late April, cargo delays are highly probable.

CMA CGM has joined the gray pool in Memphis, a win for those advocating for truckers to use any chassis for any container to eliminate chassis splits and other inefficiencies that cost shippers money.

Container volume growth on trades connecting the United States with South America decelerated last year, reflecting slowing economic growth in the bellwether countries of Brazil and Argentina, according to JOC's 2019 top US–South America port and carrier rankings.

Preliminary service contract negotiations between carriers and US retailers and other importers normally begin before TPM. But the event, set for March 1-4, was canceled a day before it was set to begin due to safety concerns tied to the coronavirus.

CMA CGM extended its $535 million credit lines with Neptune Orient Line for another three years, giving it a little breathing room.

The global nature of the coronavirus outbreak is throwing containerized goods supply and demand out of whack, but a way through the fog for all parties could be to lean more heavily on predictive analytics software.

Dynamic ocean freight pricing — often conflated with instant quoting — can create some unintended consequences that rebound on the intermediaries upon which shippers rely.

Terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach are canceling work shifts due to plunging cargo volumes, which is causing a backlog of empty containers in Southern California and could trigger chassis shortages if the condition is not resolved soon.

Logistics system integration provider Chain.io will help shippers and forwarders connect to carrier track-and-trace data via a standard established by the container line-led Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) in January.

Spot rates in the eastbound trans-Pacific edged up slightly this week in the wake of blank sailings driven by the Lunar New Year and the coronavirus, although industry sources express optimism for growing cargo volumes in the second half of March.

COSCO Shipping and OOCL again handled the largest share of US container imports from Asia in 2019, while CMA CGM and APL maintained the top spot in westbound US–Asia trade, despite declining overall volumes.

Financial gains posted by carriers over the past couple of years could evaporate in 2020 unless lines contain their costs and standardize fuel pricing, according to an outlook released by AlixPartners.

The addition of the new members in the Global Shipping Business Network will stoke competition in the race to develop platforms that link carriers, shippers, ports, terminals, customs authorities, and banks.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak will distort container flows and global equipment fleet balance for at least another 90 to 120 days, according to Gregory Tuthill, chief commercial officer at SeaCube Containers.

The terms of a $5 billion credit line obtained by Maersk as it reinvents itself as a logistics integrator will become more favorable as the ocean carrier progresses towards its carbon-neutrality goal.

The domino effect of factory closures and other related supply chain disruptions stemming from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will have major downstream ramifications for container shipping demand, equipment availability, and rates.

Driven mostly by increases in bunker fuel charges due to the IMO 2020 global low-sulfur fuel requirement, carriers say they intend to achieve all-inclusive freight rates that are slightly higher than the rates in last year’s service contracts.

The Chinese government says it will take “strong measures” to ensure supply chain fluidity for refrigerated (reefer) food products, but US exporters must wait for factories to reopen and ships to begin leaving China again.

The vulnerability of the container shipping supply chain has been repeatedly — and painfully — exposed, but as 2020 gets underway, the industry is facing disruption on a scale not seen in its more than 60-year history as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China.

Maersk is more than doubling its warehousing and distribution assets in North America through an acquisition that serves as another signal of its commitment to transition from container line to integrator.

A weak container shipping environment in the fourth quarter was unable to prevent Hapag-Lloyd growing both revenue and average freight rates across the year.

Declining imports due to factory shutdowns in Asia from the Lunar New Year and the coronavirus are beginning to produce a shortage of empty containers in the US interior, with the shortages expected to spike in March.

US refrigerated (reefer) shippers reported improved service from ocean carriers in 2019, but equipment issues and other uncertainties could impact cold chains this year.

Pacific International Lines, which participates in a half-dozen trans-Pacific services, mostly in slot-charter arrangements, is exiting the highly-competitive Asia-US trade lane.

US exporters of refrigerated (reefer) cargo are facing costly delays in China and equipment shortages in the United States due to extended factory closures and limitations on worker movement caused by the coronavirus outbreak.