News
Industry Update – December 2021
Attention: Shipping Manager
New “Pondus” Weighing System to be introduced at Patrick Terminals – Sydney AutoStrad:
Further to our previous advice in relation to the new Pondus system being introduced in Brisbane and Melbourne earlier this year, we have been advised by Patrick Terminal that from 17th January 2022 onwards, this new weighing solution will be implemented at Sydney Autostrad Terminal. The Pondus system helps identify mis-declared weights by statistically sampling containers for weighing and then automatically notifying relevant parties of weight discrepancies, allowing parties to better meet their Chain of Responsibility obligations. Both imports and exports will be statistically sampled for weighing on the Pondus stand. Any mis-declared container found to be outside of the 1-tonne tolerance will be charged a Weight Amendment Fee of AUD 230 per container plus GST.
Situation in USA and Canada:
- Container Dwell Fee postponed
We have been informed by the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach that the Emergency Surcharge Fee (Container Dwell Fee) has been postponed until 06th December 2021. This is due to a 26% reduction in long-dwelling containers since the fee was announced back in October. The surcharge was put on hold as port authorities have seen progress in clearing import containers from the docks in recent weeks (Source – American Shipper).
Despite the sign of improvement, the significant backlogs are still causing major disruptions to the supply chain with more than 100 ships anchored off the coast of California.
- Port and Rail Congestion
Due to increased volume during the peak season, US terminals in Philadelphia, Savannah, Houston, Seattle and Los Angeles/Long Beach continue to experience congestion issues. At Los Angeles/Long Beach port, vessel waiting time is 20 days due to high import dwell time and labour shortage. Vessel waiting time at Seattle terminal is up to 21 days. On the east coast, the waiting time is 8-9 days in Savannah and between 1-2 days at Philadelphia and Charleston ports due to high import volume.
The situation is similar in Canada, vessel waiting time is 5-7 days in Vancouver and yard utilization is at 88% of capacity. The port reported 47 vessels at anchor.
All major rail facilities in Chicago, Columbus and Los Angeles are facing major congestion due to a severe shortage of available chassis, rail car shortages, gate capacity restrictions and dwelling containers. Extended delays in picking up and delivering containers at these locations are anticipated to continue over the upcoming weeks.
- Limited Space and Equipment
Our options for container shipping out of USA are extremely limited due to restricted space and equipment availability. Due to the lack of trucking power and driver shortage, carriers have stopped quoting and offering ex/to door services, even ex/to rail ramp options are very limited. For this reason, we have to consider and will be arranging our own trucking for pickups and deliveries to/from door instead of using carrier haulages during this period.
In addition, one of the two main carriers that we were still able to get space/equipment from the US has temporality suspended their service and stopped accepting all bookings from the east coast to Australia/New Zealand due to significant capacity constraints. At this stage, there is no time frame on when this service will be re-opened.
Another carrier will be temporality omitting Savannah port until early next year to avoid port congestion, vessel delays and protect their schedule integrity.
- Operational Interruptions at Vancouver port, Canada
All rail and road services at the port of Vancouver were halted due to the recent flooding and landslides in British Columbia. All key highway and rail routes into and out of Vancouver were shut down. Consequently, vessel delays and disruptions to terminal operations are expected. The disruptions occur as the port handles record amounts of cargo. As a result, some shipping lines have cancelled bookings for shipments via Vancouver at the moment. Progress to restore main routes to this region has been made and the terminals will slowly resume operations this week while industry experts are forecasting that impacts may last for weeks (Source – Freight Waves).
Situation in Europe:
Further to our previous updates, our options for cargo shipping from the UK to Australia and New Zealand remain extremely limited. There are only two carriers currently offering service for this trade lane, most vessels on the direct service to Australia are booked out until the end of the year. We are still able to secure space on transhipment service; however, this is at a significantly higher rate and there are severe delays at the transhipment port in Singapore.
The operational situation at all major ports in Europe – Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp remains tense, shipments out of Europe are still experiencing vessel berthing delays and port congestion in many terminals. Some carriers have had to cancel sailings on several services that call North Europe as a result of ongoing congestion caused by continuing high levels of import arrivals, in conjunction with infrastructure constraints (Source – Global Marine Hub).
Situation in Asia:
- Temporary Service Suspension to South China
Many shipping lines will be temporarily suspending cargo bound to South China ports due to the early feeder service suspensions from South China and Hong Kong feeder operators. The suspension will start from 15th December 2021 until 8th February 2022, during the Chinese New Year 2022 period. Service resumption is pending further updates from feeder operators – expected to be after 8th February 2022.
- Port Congestion
Port congestion at transhipment ports in Singapore and Port Klang remains critical, vessels transhipping via these hubs are getting lengthy delays. For instance, some shipments were delayed for more than a month in Hong Kong and Singapore due to the ongoing labour shortages and restricted capacity. In addition, China’s increasingly extreme COVID-19 measures are causing further crisis to the global shipping industry. China is currently imposing a mandatory 7-week port quarantine for all Chinese crew members. These restrictions have resulted in major delays, capacity constraints and port congestion due to labour shortages (Source – Bloomberg).
Furthermore, due to the severe delays in Australian ports, carriers offering services for Asia-Oceania bound have been having blank sailings, port rotations and port omissions on some of their services in order to protect schedule reliability and avoid congestion.
- Limited Space and Equipment
Shipping out of India and the Middle East is very challenging due to extremely limited space/equipment availability. The situation is similar for container shipping from Japan as most shipping lines are fully booked out until January 2022. Consequently, we will need to book well in advance in order to secure space and pay a premium rate for exporting cargo out of these regions.
Situation in New Zealand:
New Zealand ports continue to experience terminal congestion that led to the suspension of proforma berthing windows, which are impacting carriers’ sailing schedules. In order to protect schedule reliability, some shipping lines have removed weekly calls at the Port of Napier and reinstated weekly service to Port Chalmers. One major carrier has recently introduced a new service connecting Brisbane with Timaru and Lyttelton ports to enhance network reliability and port coverage in Oceania.
The current bottlenecks across the supply chain have been negatively impacting the Oceania shipping industry. The majority of carriers have suspended their services to New Zealand ports due to limited space allocation and equipment availability and to mitigate schedule disruptions and congestion.
General Rate Increase from USA to Australia and New Zealand:
From 01st December 2021, there will be an increase to be implemented on all cargo originating from USA (East and West Coast) to Australia and New Zealand. The increase will be:
USD 500 per 20GP
USD 1000 per 40GP/HC
LCL General Rate Increase from USA to Fremantle, Australia:
We have been advised of a General Rate Increase to be applied on all LCL shipments coming from USA to Fremantle effective 01st December 2021, as follows:
USD 20 per w/m
Minimum USD 20.
General Rate Increase from Australia and New Zealand to USA and Canada:
One carrier has announced a General Rate Increase for all exports out of Australia and New Zealand to USA and Canada effective 01st December 2021, as follows:
USD 1500 per container
General Rate Increase from Australia to New Zealand:
A General Rate Increase will be applied on all cargo moving from Australia to New Zealand effective 01st December 2021, as follows:
USD 500 per container
Sydney Empty Container Park Increase:
Sydney Empty Container Park surcharge will increase slightly, effective 01st December 2021. The updated empty container park fee in Sydney will be AUD 120 per container.
We will keep you updated with any further information.
