Air
Trans-pacific: The market remains quiet since a slowdown after Lunar New Year. We expect to see demand resume in coming weeks, especially from Asia.
Europe: The Trans-Atlantic market remains at elevated levels, as traffic is strong in both directions and capacity struggles to keep up with demand. We advise advanced notice of 1-2 weeks for bookings, with cargo taking 5-7 days minimum for uplift.
Americas:
TPWB The market is strong in both directions for Asia and Europe. The continued lack of lower deck capacity will likely continue to keep rates elevated going into April.
TPEB Capacity currently available to Continental Europe and the U.K., but aircrafts continue to fly at very high load factors.
Ocean
Transpacific Eastbound: Spot market pricing and premium rates remain stable at current levels, as carriers extend rates through March 31. Shippers have seen slightly more space availability in early March. However, some origin ports are working through Lunar New Year holiday demands faster than others, namely Ningbo, which has seen much faster recovery of export volume. With current demand and continued extenuating factors, we continue to see increases of more than 200% over their 2020 Asia-US WC rates, and as much as 80% over 2020 east coast rates year over year.
General Rate Increases (GRI): Partial GRI – Most carriers extended their rates through March 31, with small increases for some carriers. We recommend booking 2-3 weeks before cargo ready date. Securing space and equipment availability is a major challenge for shippers and carriers.
Peak Season Surcharge (PSS): As carriers control the market by removing capacity to meet supply, talk of implementing a PSS earlier than expected is widespread. No additional surcharges have been implemented at this time.
Equipment shortages remain an industry-wide challenge for all container sizes and a limiting factor for shipments out of Asia. Repositioning and in-fleeting will remain a focus for most carriers into Q2.
Equipment Returns and Import dwell time of containers: Port congestion persists as vessels sit at anchor waiting to be unloaded in the ports of LA/LB. Carriers are reporting delayed vessel dwell times of 15 days at LA/LB and 4 days at Oakland.
The U.S. Market
Conditions at U.S. West and East coasts remain extremely congested and without improvement.
Recent news is likely to exacerbate current port conditions: The suspension of tax related orders for the next 4 months and the implementation of a stimulus package for American households. Our partners are predicting we will see major increases to U.S. imports from Asia and Europe in the coming weeks, exacerbating current port congestion conditions.
Below are updates from our stations across the U.S. regarding the current rate increases, capacity issues, equipment shortages –
West Coast: Currently booking 3-5 weeks in advance. Port and trucking capacity remains at critical capacity in LA/LB ports, chassis shortage and congestion due to COVID related stresses continue. Currently, 33 vessels anchored off the coast of LA/LB and 22 outside Oakland, with another 11 waiting outside in drift boxes.
South-West: Currently booking 1-2 weeks in advance. The port and local operations are running at full capacity. However, some ripple effects and delays from the extreme weather are still being felt in the region.
Mid-West: Currently booking 2-4 weeks in advance. Inclement seasonal weather is expected to continue to affect the area for the next weeks.
South-East: Currently booking 3-5 weeks in advance with last-minute bookings and appointment requests being nearly impossible to secure, especially at normal rate levels. The situation at the ports of Savannah and Charleston remains dire. Currently, Savannah Port reports 13 vessels are anchored off the coast.
East Coast: Currently booking 2-4 weeks in advance. NY/NJ ports are experiencing an 8-day dwell time on terminal for inbound rail cargo. Ports continue to be overwhelmed with volumes being pulled from certain loops and sailing schedules to avoid arrival delays. We are also seeing local truckers raising rates to take advantage of the capacity crunch.