Ocean Freight Market
Market Overview: Port congestion remains the top U.S. headline while operational blank sailings are increasing. Carriers are removing roughly 25% of Transpacific capacity to combat the lull in October demand. We expect November demand to outpace October’s, building steam into the holiday and peak season with rates remaining close behind. Container shortages in Asia, and possible continuation of power cutbacks in China, among other factors propping up rates.
General Rate Increases (GRI): November 1 GRI saw a partial implementation. November 15 GRI is expected.
COVID-19 Updates: Vietnam - Southern factory productivity up to 50% as workers return. India - Delhi lockdown conditions have been fully withdrawn.
Blank sailings: Operational blank sailings will be one of the key contributing factors in the market over Q4 – Current notices from the carriers can be found on our website (Week 43)
Holiday Notices:
• Malaysia: Offices closed Nov 4.
• Cambodia: Offices closed Nov 9 and Nov 18 through 21.
• India: Offices closed Nov 14 and Nov 19.
• Philippines: Offices closed November 1 & 2 as well as Nov 30.
• Mexico: Offices closed November 1 & 2.
Airfreight Market
Market Overview: Airfreight markets are heating up as capacity struggles to meet demand, specifically, unprecedented charter flight demand resulting in Trans-Pac rate spikes. Tech giants (Apple, Sony, Tesla, Etc.) grab significant volume of available U.S. space. With winter approaching, shippers are advised to plan advance bookings in preparation for continued strains to circumvent potential weather-driven delays, especially with continued concerns of energy shortage concerns.
The U.S. Market
Market Overview: The U.S. government announced on October 25th the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will begin charging an “emergency fee” on all long dwelling cargo effective the 1st of November 2021. The fee will be applied to all containers that remain at the terminal for 9 days or more and 3 days or more for rail. With the short notice implementation of this new surcharge, little guidance or information on how the cost will be charged and collected has yet to be provided.
USEC/WC port bottlenecks continue to worsen as 50+ vessels idle for berth space in LA/LB. Currently, Signal port data shows 33 vessels at anchor in LA/LB ports with a reported average 12-day dwell time. However, the count on vessel finder is well over 50 as of today.
To alleviate USEC congestion and delays, several carriers have temporarily skipped Savannah calls on transatlantic and Subcontinent-east coast loops. More skipped calls can be expected if the situation further deteriorates. Operations in New York / New Jersey terminal saw a temporary break in congestion. Accounting for transpacific factors, this is likely to be short-lived as we brace for peak season.
Janel Group continues to closely monitor the market and port situation. Updates will be provided as they come available. To secure a booking or explore additional options for your supplier, please reach out to your Janel Group Representative.
Gabriel Racicot
Pricing & Commercial Support Manager