North American ports

Despite Indian exports picking up, there is skepticism about a rosier 2024 in the wake of multiple potentially disruptive events unfolding in the container shipping industry, including Panama Canal restrictions and recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Although the project site is currently unused, it was pressed into service as a storage yard for empty containers during the pandemic, with as many as 7,000 boxes stored there when it was at full capacity in August 2022.

The union chief representing Montreal dockworkers said the big issue of wages has yet to be hashed out less than a month before the deadline for a possible strike at Canada’s second-busiest port.

With shippers already having a say in regulation and policy, two House members are urging maritime regulators to give marine terminal operators and public port authorities a seat at the table.

The Blue Ridge Connector will have 18,000 feet of working track and an annual lift capacity of up to 200,000 containers while providing shippers with an all-rail service from Savannah.

The long-time Vancouver Fraser Port Authority executive has helped to lead the port’s gateway infrastructure program to develop road and rail projects designed to facilitate cargo movement.

Shippers who have built East and Gulf coast routings into their supply chains are taking no chances, raising the need for contingency plans in discussions with carriers and NVOs ahead of 2024 contract renewals.

Liner operators in THE Alliance will switch transits on three services as low water levels on the Panama Canal reduce the number of ships that can use the main artery for container trade between the US East Coast and Asia.

While container volumes have largely returned to normal historical levels, ocean carriers still have not been able to restore performance to pre-pandemic levels.

The Class I railroad sees an opportunity to tap growth at the Gulf Coast’s busiest port with new intermodal lanes, while expanding its inland reach from Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Given the persistent downward pressure on demand, it remains to be seen if India-US carriers will be able to push through a new round of modest rate hikes planned for December.

The carrier is looking to expand beyond its two current services jointly offered with other liners with a standalone service meant to take advantage of the growing shift in sourcing from India.

The project, in coordination with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, is due to be completed in late 2024 and will help move cargo faster through Western Canada.

The Norfolk expansion plans from resin logistics specialist Katoen Natie come as more plastics production is going onstream in the Northeast US.

With peak season at hand for ag exports, shippers say weak US import volumes have constrained the supply of repositioned containers they need to send goods overseas, risking disruption to their supply chains.

The four-phase, seven-building project with CSX rail connections will support the growing needs of importers and exporters using the port.

While October is typically one of the busiest months of the year for West Coast ports, the region’s market share of imports from Asia slipped markedly from September, but carrier executives said that was an anomaly linked to capacity cuts in the eastbound trans-Pacific.

The bill is a response to growing CBP demands that ports pay for new inspection-related equipment, or risk having the agency reduce the amount of time its officers spend performing inspections.

The long-standing spread, typically about $1,000, is now half that as volume growth returns to West Coast ports and shippers increasingly tap into Southeast Asia manufacturing.

GPA's ability to handle growing volumes has attracted the likes of Rivian and Hyundai, both planting roots in Georgia to export vehicles from new facilities through Brunswick.

The direct service that kicks off at the end of the month will add further options to transport apparel, textiles, poultry, pork and agricultural products between Central America and the US East Coast.

Alongside broader talks on wages for its members, the International Longshoremen’s Association said individual ports need to use more union supervisors and foremen, particularly throughout the South.

The cracks in the gateway’s attractiveness to importers and exporters out of the US Midwest were showing before this July’s work stoppage and the decline in import demand across North America.

Once fully complete by 2025, the current expansion project would allow the port to handle 1.1 million TEUs annually, up from 650,000 TEUs.

The Singapore-based carrier has now expanded its access to capacity in the strategic locations of the US West Coast, North Europe and Southeast Asia.

Ahead of an International Longshoremen’s Association conference, president Harold Daggett has warned union rank-and-file to be prepared for the “possibility of a coast-wide strike.”

Along with the grant for the Port of Wilmington’s proposed container terminal, Tacoma and Long Beach received grants for improving truck and rail access, respectively.

Six amicus briefs have been filed to the US Supreme Court supporting the South Carolina Ports Authority’s position that the ILA is illegally forcing carriers to boycott Charleston’s Hugh Leatherman Terminal as a means to acquire jobs that belong to state employees.

On-time performance to the West Coast improved during the busiest month of 2023 for Asian imports to date, but East Coast reliability took a dip.

Pacific-focused Matson has already enjoyed the return of some cargoes that had been diverted to the East and Gulf coasts but are now returning to the West Coast after the ILWU ratified its contract in September.

Developers of the Sparrows Point Container Terminal are starting the permitting process with the US Army Corps of Engineers that will allow construction to begin in 2025.

The Georgia Ports Authority plans to open a third ocean terminal in Savannah in 2030 and says updating its current hybrid labor model to an all-union workforce could cost the port $600 million in its first operating year.

While neither side has made public its terms for a new collective bargaining agreement, sources familiar with the talks say the union is looking for a 20% increase in wages over four years and a faster seniority path for dockworkers.

The Panama Canal faces the prospect of transit and loading limitations becoming a regular feature of all-water transits to eastern North America, while a shift of trade out of China increasingly favors Suez Canal routings in the longer-term, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

The latest service suspensions signal that US and European demand for some Asia-sourced consumer goods will remain tepid following the record spending splurge of the previous two years.

The FMC complaint is atypical in that it’s an ocean carrier challenging fees rather than a cargo owner, forwarder or trucker pushing back against detention and demurrage charges.

Mexico’s second-largest port is being added as regular and irregular call to trans-Pacific services due to draft restrictions and increasing availability of intermodal rail.

Amid a down year overall, Gulf Coast port volumes are holding up thanks to petrochemical exports, as well as growing imports related to energy projects and specialized manufacturing in the region.

Construction of the C$750 million, 400,000-TEU facility for Canadian and US agricultural and resin exports will be key to achieving more balanced two-way trade through the Western Canadian port.

After jettisoning previously planned October rate hikes, some India-USEC carriers have published new, modest rate increase plans for November.