Zencargo Market Update: 1st August

China

Ocean

• • Operations from China have not changed since last week.
    • Most terminals at Ningbo are under severe yard and berth congestion. Vessels waiting for a berth are waiting for an average of 2 to 3 days. 
    • This average wait time at Yantian is also 2 to 3 days and terminals have restricted ship services.
    • The average wait time at Qingdao is 2 to 5 days. The port is congested due to intermittent port closures caused by bad weather conditions. Terminal yard capacity is also limited. 
    • Shanghai is performing better compared to the other ports as wait time is up to 1.5 days. The average berth-waiting time is 0 to 0.5 days at YS4 terminal and 0.5 to 1.5 days at WGQ terminal. 
      • Yard utilisation at YS4 terminal is 81% and 71% at WGQ. 
  • See equipment table below

Air

Central China to USA and Europe 

• From SHA to Europe, the rate is stable this week. However, from SHA to the USA rates have increased slightly due to cancelled flights. 
• From NGB to Europe, rates have decreased slightly. However, rates are stable to the USA compared to last week. 

North China to USA and Europe 

• Hot weather has affected loading capacity at TSN airport. Rates remain the same as last week to the USA. 
• Due to hot weather conditions and rain, some carriers have cancelled, rescheduled or taken on less volume from PEK to both lanes. Therefore, flight schedules are not reliable at the moment. 
• Rates have decreased to both lanes but capacity is tight.

South China to USA and Europe 

• From CAN to Europe and the USA, rates have decreased to both destinations. 
• From SZX to Europe rates have decreased but remain stable to the USA. However, Air China has announced that they will cancel flights to the US. 
• From XMN to Europe and the USA, rates are stable this week. 

Road

• Cross-border truck operations at Hong Kong are facing COVID restrictions, starting from 25th July. 
  • A rise in COVID cases in Shenzhen have led to the city reducing daily cross-border truck movements from 3,500 to 1,500.
  • Truck capacity has reduced to around 10-20% of usual levels. 

USA

Ocean

• Port congestion is worsening at US ports
  • The North American container ship queue has increased by 66% over the past seven weeks.
  • There were 92 vessels waiting offshore at US ports on 10th June. As of last Thursday, there were 153 vessels waiting offshore, the majority off the East and Gulf Coast ports. 
  • The shift in congestion from US West Coast Ports to US East Coast and Gulf Ports comes as shippers aim to avoid any unpredictability at US West Coast ports such as the ILWU labour negotiations. 

Benelux

Ocean

• The Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges handled fewer containers in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year. 
  • However, despite handling less containers, extended dwell times meant yard density and terminal congestion increased significantly.
  • Rotterdam saw 6.2% less throughput across its box terminals in the first six months at 7.3m TEU. 
  • Antwerp-Bruges reported a 4.4% decrease at 6.8m TEU.
  • Rotterdam announced that the volume decline was due to the loss of traffic to and from Russia as well as existing supply chain disruptions. 
• The Port of Rotterdam has handled 5.5% fewer calls from vessels in the first half of this year compared to last year. 
  • However, vessels saw an 6.1% average increase in container exchanges. 
  • At the port, containers are left for longer periods because ship arrival times are more unreliable. 
  • The average dwell time for containers has increased from four days before the pandemic, to ten days. 

UK and Rest of Europe

Ocean

• Dockers at the Port of Felixstowe have voted to strike in August
  • The decision comes as workers were offered a below-inflation pay rise. 
  • 1,900 workers are responsible for operations at the UK’s largest port and the strike will mean a standstill in the logistics hub.
  • The port handles about 45,000 containers each week and is responsible for 40% of containers entering and leaving the UK.
  • The impact of this strike could ripple across the UK’s entire supply chain as vessels will be prevented from entering the port and lorries unable to drop or pick up cargo. 
  • Dock strikes also threaten Liverpool as workers are yet to vote on whether a strike should go ahead in August. 

Road/Rail

• European road haulage is experiencing increased capacity shortages 
  • This has impacted vehicle availability, transit times, transit-time integrity and has caused an increase in rates.
  • This shortage in capacity has been driven by a shortage of lorry drivers as many carriers have reported that up to 20% of their vehicles were unavailable due to driver availability.
• The latest updates on crude oil prices
  • Fuel surcharges seem to have stabilised but it remains uncertain due to fuel price fluctuations.
  • The rise in fuel prices has had a significant impact on the costs of running transport.
  • Freight rates are expected to rise is fuel surcharges are implemented across the industry.

European Bank Holidays

We anticipate a shortage of availability and the occurrence of delays around the bank holiday periods. Plan ahead and allow extra time for your products to be delivered.

August 1st – Ireland

August 5th – Croatia, Spain*

August 15th – Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany*, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain

August 20th – Estonia, Hungary

August 29th, Slovakia

September 1st – Slovakia

September 2nd – Spain*

September 5th – Luxembourg*

September 6th – Bulgaria, Spain*

September 8th – Malta, Spain*

*Not in all regions