News
Industry Update – August 2022
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) Seasonal Measures 2022-2023
Please be informed BMSB 2022-2023 season is fast approaching.
For the upcoming 2022-23 BMSB risk season, biosecurity measures will apply to:
- certain goods manufactured in, or shipped from target risk countries, and/or
- vessels that berth at, load, or tranship from target risk countries
The seasonal measures apply to goods shipped between 1st September 2022 and 30th April 2023 (inclusive) that arrive by sea.
Changes to measures for the 2022-23 BMSB risk season
- Emerging risk countries will apply to China and UK only.
- Chapters 94 and 95 will be subject to random inspections (emerging risk countries only).
- 120 hours policy has been amended to allow onshore re-treatment in certain situations where goods have been rolled (with evidence).
- Inspect (unpack) Inspections will now apply instead of Secure Seals intact inspections at Approved Arrangements.
Further information on the BMSB seasonal measures is available on the BMSB webpage – Seasonal measures for Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) – Department of Agriculture.
Backlog in Permit Assessments:
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has released a BICON Notification acknowledging a significant backlog and increase in the number of permit applications for plant-based products for use as animal feed, fertilizer or bait. As a result, the assessment timeframes for permit assessments and desk audits have increased.
Approximate minimum assessment times are:
- Minimum 12 weeks for permit assessments
- Minimum 16 – 20 weeks for desk audits
Situation in USA and Canada:
Los Angeles port’s export volumes during last month were up 14% year on year and recorded the highest total since November 2020. Meanwhile, last month’s imports at Long Beach and Los Angeles ports were 20% higher than the prior five-year average for that month.
Industry experts anticipate that it will be very challenging for the supply chain in the upcoming months as peak season is coming and several performance indicators remain problematic. The situation with on-dock rail is particularly alarming, there are thousands of containers on the terminals waiting for rail, and more than 75% of those have been waiting for nine days or more. Container dwell times are stagnating and failing to improve. Long dwelling containers in the port of Long Beach are now up 9% compared to last year.
In addition, Chicago rail terminal is severely congested, one of the rail terminals is currently limiting the number of containers coming into the terminal to 90 containers per day, so space is filling up quickly. On the west coast, the port of Long Beach is currently only accepting cargo on Thursday and Friday due to ongoing congestion at the port.
Furthermore, staff shortage is another leading challenge for the supply chain during the peak season. In early July, hundreds of truckers participated in a work stoppage and managed to shut down truck traffic at all three terminals at the port of Oakland to protest a controversial state law. Given the precarious state of US logistics infrastructure and problems with the rail network, work stoppages would likely have severe repercussions on the supply chains, leading to widespread congestion and delays.
In Canada, the workers at Canadian National Rail (CN) went on strike back in June, which has caused major disruptions to the Canadian rail network, particularly on the west coast.
Shipping lines are constantly rolling/cancelling bookings due to limited space/equipment availability which are causing major delays and disruptions. As per our previous notices, carriers are still not offering ex/to door services, so we have been utilizing outside trucking carriers for ex/to door shipments. With fuel prices continuing to increase, we anticipate trucking rates and freight rates will keep increasing even higher during the peak season.
(Source – The Load Star)
On the positive side, Southern California’s ship queue is getting shorter. There were 27 container vessels waiting for berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, down from 109 in January (Source – American Shipper).
Situation in Europe:
- Port of Felixstowe, UK – Upcoming Industrial action
Thousands of dock workers at the UK’s largest container port plan to strike for 8 days at the end of this month after failing to reach a pay deal. The Unite union is vowing a full shutdown of the port during this period. The strike is expected to have a huge effect on supply chains and cause severe disruption to international trade. Experts are concerned that shipping lines will opt to bypass Felixstowe port during the strike and re-route to other nearby ports in the UK or Europe, such as London Gateway or Rotterdam, which can further worsen the already strained operations at these ports.
Furthermore, the NEMO service – a direct service from London Gateway to Australian ports, is already well overbooked, and this upcoming strike will certainly make it much harder to get a booking on this trade lane.
(Source – gCaptain)
- Strike actions at German ports
The workers at several German ports went on a 48-hour strike back in mid-July, this has largely halted cargo handling at major ports including Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven. This work stoppage was the nation’s longest dock strike for more than 40 years. The strike has added more pressure and had a serious impact on liner networks and worsened the supply chain congestion at North European container hubs (Source – The Load Star).
Situation in Asia:
- China – Potential shipping disruptions and vessel delays
We have been advised that China’s military exercises in the water around Taiwan have forced over 200 vessels to reroute and disrupted key trading routes for cargo and commodities sailing globally. Industry experts anticipate trade disruptions across Taiwan, China, South Korea and Japan if the military action persists longer or in intensity (Source – Lloyd’s List).
In addition, major cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou are carrying out mass COVID-19 testing again, which might lead to potential lockdowns/ restrictions and disrupt the upcoming peak shipping season. Although the rise in cases has not yet impacted shipments, there is growing concern that local lockdowns in China will result in further congestion in already strained ports.
Also, the peak season can worsen congestion leading to potential delays or blank sailings. As a result, this will put pressure on shipping capacity and therefore rates are likely to increase.
(Source – The Load Star)
- Increasing freight rates
As we are going into the peak shipping season, we expect freight rates will surge and shipping lines will be charging high Peak Season Surcharge on top of their freight rates. In particular, with shipments ex India or Japan, where space and equipment availability has been extremely limited, some carriers are planning to quadruple the charges, hence sky-high rate levels are expected (Source – The Load Star).
Airfreight Emergency Cartage Fuel Surcharge ex USA:
Further to our previous notice, Emergency Cartage Fuel Surcharge will be 19% effective 15th August 2022 on top of all airfreight inland pickups in the USA. Please note this surcharge fluctuates continually, so this is subject to change.
Sydney Empty Container Park Increase:
Sydney Empty Container Park surcharge has been increased to AUD 145 per container, effective 1st August 2022.
Sydney Empty Container Park Peak Surcharge:
From 01st August 2022, the Peak Surcharge applicable on all empty dehire/collection at Sydney terminals has been increased to AUD 40 per container.
Fuel Levy Increase in Adelaide:
Fuel Levy in Adelaide has increased to 32.5% for all FCL pickups/deliveries, effective immediately.
Please note this is applicable for pickups and deliveries within metro areas only and is subject to change – fuel surcharge for regional and interstate areas will be higher and will vary depending on location.
D & V have tried to keep the increase to a minimum and will continue to monitor the terminal gate price so we adjust the rate accordingly as the current situation is constantly changing.
Hutchison Terminal Surcharge – Brisbane:
We have been advised that there will be a surcharge for any container import or export or empty dehire at Hutchison Terminal in Brisbane. The new surcharge has come into effect from Monday 11th July 2022 and the fee is AUD 165++ additional to standard charges.
This is due to the massive delays and difficulties gaining time slots at Hutchison ports.
The new surcharge is imposed by the trucking carrier, which we do not have any control over and therefore have no option but to pass this on.
DP World Telephone Manual Booking Fee – Fremantle:
From 8th July 2022, in order to secure bookings off every vessel from DP World Terminal for containers in Fremantle, the trucking carrier will be charging a mandatory Telephone Manual Intervention Booking fee of AUD 40 on every container collected from and dropped to DP World terminal.
This is to give the carrier the best chance of getting containers delivered to the customer and dehired back to container parks in a timely manner to avoid storages and shipping line detentions.
We will need to pass this charge on once received. Please note this is additional to the VBS Booking slot fee, Empty park fee and Infrastructure fee.
We will keep you updated with any further information.