After cumulative ocean carrier profits exceeded some $9bn for the final quarter of 2020, the returns for the liner industry could double that in Q1 this year.
Cosco Shipping told analysts last week it expected its Q1 net profit would reach a massive $2.3bn, compared with just $44m for the same period a year ago, after its average freight rate leapt 54% quarter on quarter.
“It will be another strong year for the container shipping industry,” said Shanghai-based Bank of Communications transport analyst Maggie Wang.
Source: The Loadstar
Longshoremen at the Port of Montreal are set to begin a partial strike on Tuesday after their employers moved to suspend guaranteed minimum pay in response to an 11% plunge in cargo volumes.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 375 stopped short of calling a full-blown strike at Canada’s second busiest port. Longshoremen won’t work overtime on weekdays or at all on the weekends, but will handle containers related to the pandemic and provide grain offloading services.
Source: FreightWaves, American Shipper
Shipping lines are failing to provide Europe’s shippers with enough information about service disruptions and port rotations following the Suez Canal closure, according to Jordi Espin, strategic relations manager at the European Shippers’ Council.
Europe’s container terminals have been operating at subdued levels this week due to the Suez closure. However, vessels delayed in Suez queues or re-routed around the Cape of Good Hope are expected to arrive en masse over the next week. Congestion, equipment shortages, blank sailings and void port calls are expected to disrupt services for a number of weeks.
Source: Lloyd´s Loading List
The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is planning to help shippers “get their money back” from “unreasonable” demurrage and detention (D&D) charges.
In November, the FMC launched an investigation into shipping lines’ role in the country’s port congestion, including D&D charges, empty container returns and the practice by some of declining agricultural exports in favour of repositioning empties to Asia.
Source: The Loadstar
Taiwanese liner Evergreen today confirmed that the 20,388 teu Ever Given has been arrested by a court in Egypt this week. The giant, near full ship is in the Great Bitter Lake with a crew of 25 onboard, weeks after it ran aground, blocking the Suez Canal. The ship is operated by Evergreen and owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha.
According to the vessel’s insurer, the UK P&I Club, Shoei Kisen has been hit with a $916m claims from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
Source: Splash 24/7
South Carolina Ports made history today welcoming the first vessel to the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal, marking the first container terminal to open in the U.S. since 2009.
Operations launched March 30 with the arrival of the first container, followed by the first ship arrival today with Hapag Lloyd’s Yorktown Express.
“The Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal is an investment in the future of South Carolina that will spur economic development, create jobs, and further our state’s position as an international business destination for years to come,” Governor Henry McMaster said. “This project is a momentous achievement which highlights the strengths of Team South Carolina. I congratulate the South Carolina Ports Authority and everyone who has worked towards achieving this historic day.”
Source: AJOT
South-east Asia’s container trade with the US is growing faster than China’s, highlighting the region’s shifting sourcing patterns.
According to the Japan Maritime Center (JMC), the share of US container imports originating in Asean broke through 20% for the first time last year – while China’s share declined for the second successive year.
Asean volumes were up 16.1% to 4m teu, bringing the region’s total share to 21.9%, while volumes originating in China (excluding Hong Kong), increased just 2.4% to 10.8m teu, resulting in a 0.9% loss in market share.
Source: The Loadstar
Ship congestion outside the busiest U.S. gateway for trade with Asia persisted over the past week as imports surged through March, usually one of the slower months of the year for container volumes.
A total of 25 container ships were anchored awaiting entry into the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, as of Sunday, compared with 28 a week earlier though still below a peak of 40 in early February, according to officials who monitor marine traffic in San Pedro Bay. Another 10 are scheduled to arrive over the next three days, with seven of those expected to drop anchor and join the queue.
Source: SupplyChainBrain, Bloomberg
Liner customers should expect prolonged service disruption before a return to “normalcy” in the third quarter, according to Rolf Habben Jansen, Chief Executive Officer of Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth largest container line.
In a press briefing yesterday he also said substantial port congestion was likely to continue through the second quarter in both the US and Europe.
And he predicted “significant” year-on-year rate increases for carriers as they negotiate long-term transpacific contracts with shippers in the coming weeks.
Source: Lloyd´s Loading List
Puertos del Estado, which executes Spain’s port policy, has concluded that the project of the New North Terminal of the Port of Valencia does not require a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) received two reports from Puertos del Estado, of which the legal note stated that the port’s current EIS is valid until the completion of the terminal.
The second report made a series of technical-environmental observations on aspects that should be incorporated into the project to reinforce the guarantees of sustainability.
Source: Container Management
MSC has launched a sea-rail Asia-Europe service via Russia, while 2M partner Maersk has again upgraded its services along the route.
Connections from Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Yokohama, and Busan feed into the Russian ports of Vladivostok and Vostochny, MSC said yesterday, before beginning the 13-day transit along the trans-Siberian railway to St Petersburg.
Source: The Loadstar
