North American ports

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.

The Port of Charleston will have a sharp decline in roll-on, roll-off volume next month because automakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo have shut plants through mid-April to slow the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Longshore unions continue to assign work through hiring halls on the East, Gulf and West coasts as the unions balance the need for safety measures that protect workers from COVID-19 with the demands of keeping ports open and efficient.

Coronavirus-related store closures and a tight New Jersey industrial real estate market have prompted the Port of New York and New Jersey to prepare for possible supply chain disruptions as cargo volumes from China rebound.

With 30 percent of its containerized imports tied to China, the sole container terminal at the Port of Baltimore will close for two more days in March due to low cargo volumes from the coronavirus-afflicted nation.

Terminal operators in the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland are adding an extra hour between the day and night shifts in order to sanitize equipment, but they say the move should not cause operational disruptions.

The Port of New Orleans will use the funds to improve the efficiency of the internal New Orleans Public Belt Railroad by increasing its capacity to switch, interchange, and store rail cars.

Workers at ports, warehouses, and trucking companies are receiving exemptions from state “stay-at-home” mandates because they are judged as essential to the US supply chain.

Despite the expected decline in throughput due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the South Carolina Ports Authority says work shifts and hours will not be reduced, nor will restrictions be imposed on empty returns.

The 23-hour shutdown of two Houston container terminals spotlighted a potential new risk of disruption for all ports as they already face the possibility of coronavirus-related supply chain disruptions such as blank sailings, an excess of containers, and cargo surges.

Ports, terminal operators, the ILWU, truckers, and warehouse operators say they are complying with state and local health restrictions liked to COVID-19 while still handling cargo volumes.

Former vice president Joe Biden’s support for unions and long-time ties with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) have prompted the union to endorse Biden for president of the United States.

The Georgia Ports Authority anticipates a nearly 20 percent decline in March volumes due to the coronavirus, but weekday hours will remain unchanged and empty containers will be accepted.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey expects cargo volumes through the port to decline by 30 percent in part due to a wave of blank sailing on vessels coming from China.

Freight forwarders and non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) don’t believe the disruption related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rises nearly to the level of the port labor slowdowns in 2014-2015 or Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy in 2016.

Los Angeles-Long Beach port directors pledge to truckers and BCOs that the mandate they face to replace diesel trucks with natural-gas powered and, eventually, electric trucks will not cause significant cargo diversion from Southern California.

The container terminal at the Port of Baltimore was closed Thursday and will close again March 17 due to declining cargo volumes through the port that stem from production cuts in China as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus, truckers are urging the Federal Maritime Commission to push for relief against detention charges and rising chassis fees.

While Ocean Network Express is waiving detention penalties tied to the coronavirus, other ocean carriers have not shown as much flexibility when cargo owners cannot return empty boxes during the supply chain disruption.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is planning for additional stress on port logistics systems when cargo volumes rebound from an expected decline in February and March due to China’s reduced production as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Ports in the southeast US anticipate a double-digit decline in cargo volumes in March and April due to the coronavirus.

Los Angeles and Long Beach ports predict a 12 to 15 percent decline in cargo volume in the first quarter due largely to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on production in Asia.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will extend the collaborative efforts already underway into the digital era in order to improve productivity.

US refrigerated cargo imports grew by just over 1 percent in 2019 from the year before, in part due to a drop in Chinese volumes.

The Port of Houston says a group of non-container stakeholders should revise its plan for the authority to float a $500 million bond for the project to widen the port channel, saying that under the plan the port would then be responsible if payments were not made.

The Port of Houston has been awarded a $21.8 million federal grant to help fund the extension of a berth at the Bayport Container Terminal.

Federal grants totaling almost $33 million for the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will help support intermodal rail efficiency at the Southern California port complex.

PortMiami won a $44 million federal grant which will be used to improve the cold chain cargo facilities to handle temperature-controlled food, and perishables such as flowers.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance is pushing infrastructure development, terminal modernization, process improvements, and rail enhancements to become more efficient and make the gateway more competitive in the trans-Pacific trade.

The award of two federal grants to the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) will help fund a dredging project that will allow the port to handle larger vessels.

A seven-year expansion at the Port Newark Container Terminal (PNCT) is close to completion, expanding the terminal’s capacity by 80 percent, to 2.15 million TEU.

The USDOT has appropriated more than $50 million for two berth improvement projects in Charleston and Savannah, while President Donald Trump has proposed funds in his fiscal 2021 budget to complete dredging the Savannah River inner harbor.

Six port projects backed by the US Army Corp of Engineers will get funds totaling more than $400 million to deepen and widen port channels, including in the Port of Mobile, on the Mississippi River and Port Everglades.

The Georgia Ports Authority outlined an ambitious plan to grow its footprint that includes acquiring new land near its Garden City Terminal to hold more containers, a partial container conversion at its breakbulk Ocean Terminal, and a brand new container terminal.

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association says the economic impact -- cargo diversion -- of a proposed clean truck fee in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as contained in a recent study is based on incomplete information and the analysis should be reworked.

Georgia is looking to recapture a good portion of the Chinese frozen chicken import market now that Beijing has dropped a ban that had been in place since early 2015 due to a US avian flu outbreak.

A pilot program about to begin in the Port of New York and New Jersey would make the data from the port’s container information portal easier to use and help truckers and shippers more effectively manage their cargo.

With the expected March completion of a project to widen its turning basis, the Port of Wilmington in North Carolina will be able to boost handling capabilities that are currently capped at 12,000-TEU ships.

Advancing the project to widen its shipping channel is the top priority for the Port of Houston in 2020 as it faces rapidly growing cargo volumes.

Container cargo growth at the 10 busiest ports on the US East Coast in the first 11 months of 2019 fell to its lowest level since 2016 as the US-China trade war and slowing global economic growth dampened demand.