Cool Cargo News

Refrigerated container shippers using US East and Gulf coast ports are tapping some non-unionized terminals, but they fear produce stuck on ships and in ports will spoil, and equipment will become scarcer if the strike lasts longer than a week.

Container lines are contracting directly with perishables shippers, undercutting volume brokers, but the specialized reefer fleet is hanging on to niche markets as a handful of ports pivot toward dockside cold storage.

Seasonal demand for reefer containers on the north-south trade lane, combined with a surge in Brazilian beef exports, could lead to equipment scarcity by the year’s end, market watchers say.

A new warehouse due to open early next year in Portland for frozen and ambient-temperature cargoes could cut transportation costs for shippers now using out-of-state storage and ports.

The certification that Houston can handle cargoes treated for pests while in transit means more fresh produce such as grapes and berries can move quickly through the port.

While Cool is “cash rich,” it is under pressure to fill the newbuild capacity it already has as well as what is scheduled to be delivered, writes analyst Richard Bright.

Still, insurers said the difficulties have yet to materialize in a noticeable rise in claims for spoiled cold chain or perishable products.

Candor Expedite’s new service is designed to let perishables shippers use lower-cost freight modes and reduce product spoilage.

A cross-border temperature-controlled truckload and LTL service will connect key facilities in the company’s North American cold chain distribution network.

The facility sets up the Port of Wilmington to become a key point of entry for importers of refrigerated blueberries, grapes, apples, pears, citrus and a broad variety of organics.

The phased reduction in the number of transits coincides with peak banana exports from Ecuador and the start of the deciduous fruit season in the southern hemisphere.

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.

The new north-south service will begin next week with trial runs transporting perishable goods out of Latin America to Chicago.

The Benelux-based reefer owner/operator says its fast, dedicated and direct model trumps the transshipments, transit times and indirect costs of the major carriers.

Savannah attracted the new service due to its growing third-party logistics network and proximity to East Coast and Midwest markets, allowing for quicker and fresher imports.

Investors aren’t lining up to sink money into aging facilities, given that warehouses built in the last 20 to 40 years require nearly 50% more energy consumption and double the maintenance costs than newbuilds.

The CMA CGM subsidiary’s latest acquisition will significantly increase its presence in South Asia that is growing in importance as supply chain routes shift across the region.

If the reefer mode can tough out the rest of 2023, next year should be better for operators largely because there will be more cargo, and therefore demand will be stronger, writes analyst Richard Bright.

Refrigerated warehousing construction is “exploding” in the US Southeast, as one port executive put it, thanks to a growing population and increased demand for imported produce and other food products.

Refrigerated container trade was muted in 2022 due to high costs and poor service, but ocean carriers appear keen to serve those markets in 2023 now that dry cargo rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The specialized reefer fleet has proven to be remarkably resilient in the face of various challenges, but now it must deal with the latest threat in the form of new IMO environmental regulations.

The Port of Savannah says plans for additional reefer rack capacity will add to its market share for cold chain imports coming into the US Southeast and Gulf Coast.

The strong likelihood of continued growth in the reefer trade creates questions about supply meeting demand given recent world events and the potential upstream production dependencies linked to raw material sourcing.

Lineage Logistics is acquiring MTC Logistics, a cold storage operator with warehouses at the ports of Baltimore, Wilmington, Delaware, and Mobile.

Shypple has acquired a perishables competitor that it says will expand its geographic presence in Latin America and Asia, while giving it a leg up on other digital forwarders.

Shippers are increasingly able to gain visibility into in-transit freight, even for time- and/or temperature--sensitive cargo being carried in specialized refrigerated containers, courtesy of new technology.

Sustained strong import volumes from Asia and tight capacity have forced perishable food importers and exporters to compete with dry goods shippers for space and equipment.

US seafood exporters are among the hardest hit by stricter COVID-19 testing requirements in China that some shippers have decried as non-tariff trade barriers.

There’s debate about how much of a knock-on effect COVID-19 vaccine distribution could have on other types of cargoes, but US shippers are cautioned to plan for some disruption.

The pandemic has increased food insecurity in many countries, while some buyers ordering more inventory to hedge against potential supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks.

Sensing potential scalability factors, a handful of Indian domestic cold chain solutions providers have already trained their sights on what could be a tough, but lucrative, market for them.

While much of the wholesale and institutional food business remains depressed, foodservice distributors are finding new opportunities to add value to the food supply chain, such as helping restaurant customers open pop-up shops and online marketplaces.

Food logistics providers increasing their offerings in the "new" last-mile — from restaurants and grocery stores to consumers' homes — as demand for online grocery shopping and direct-to-consumer food delivery skyrockets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The turmoil unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic has barely subsided, evidenced by numerous reports of service failures that continue to come in from stakeholders throughout the food supply chain.

While food service and the retail grocery sectors adapt to new pandemic-linked realities, consumers’ food preferences remain unchanged.

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 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.

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

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.

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.