Newsletter – May 21, 2021

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

Blank Sailing Schedules Creating Further Delays for Shippers

maritime-executive.com
For much of the last year shippers have been complaining about delays, lack of availability, and rising costs as volumes soared in container shipping. A new analysis of the schedules and markets by the logistic platform Project44 forecasts the problems that shippers have been experiencing will continue for the foreseeable future.
A Project44 analysis of the sailing schedules of various shipping lines indicates that cargo delays could last well into the summer. They found that carriers are continuing to canceling sailings, an indication that under capacity will remain a challenge for shippers. Read more here.

Shippers push for revisions to US Shipping Act as ongoing congestion wreaks havoc

splash247.com
The National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), a US trade association representing industrial freight transportation shippers, is calling on Congress to revise the Shipping Act of 1984 after months of what it describes in a release as “ocean shipping turmoil” which has wreaked havoc on US exporters and importers. Ongoing congestion at US ports and disruption to the ocean shipping network is costing shippers “billions in higher shipping costs, demurrage and detention charges, and lost business,” said NITL in a statement. Read more here.

No rate relief for shippers on main box trades as consumer demand persists

theloadstar.com
Container shipping freight rates continued at their highly elevated levels for another week, as strong consumer demand in North America kept up the pressure on supply chains.
The Asia-US west coast component of the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) edged up 1.5% week on week, to reach a new high of $5,627 per feu. At the same point last year, the rate was $1,669 per feu. Read more here (login required).

CMA CGM starts offering clients shipments delivered on biomethane-fuelled vessels

splash247.com
French liner CMA CGM is now offering to move cargo for clients on ships fuelled by biomethane, a renewable gas produced from sources including organic and plant waste.
The service is being made available on intra-European services operated by subsidiary Containerships. Customers will be able to cut their CO2 emissions by at least 67% on a well-to-wake basis, CMA CGM claimed in a release. Read more here.

GROUND AND RAIL FREIGHT UPDATES

Montreal bridge closure to affect truck traffic

insidelogistics.ca
One of the main bridges motorists use to travel from Montreal to Ontario on the Trans-Canada Highway system has been closed for safety reasons.
Quebec Transport Minister Francois Bonnardel said Thursday on Twitter engineers decided to close the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge for the safety of its users. Read more here.

Capacity correction still a ways off, trucking execs say

freightwaves.com
The outlook for trucking calls for more of the same, according to industry heads on hand virtually at BofA Securities’ transportation conference Thursday.
Healthy consumer spending, inventory still in need of replenishment and an industrial economy that is heating up are among the catalysts they cited for the high-demand environment continuing through the rest of 2021.
Even removing elevated demand from the equation, industry fundamentals favor the carrier as capacity is historically constrained. Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Canada’s steel industry has a secret weapon that could soon beat China’s cheaper bids

financialpost.com
Last August, Stephen Hunt, director of the United Steelworkers in Western Canada, asked for an urgent meeting with British Columbia Premier John Horgan.
With construction starting on the $1.4-billion project to replace the Pattullo Bridge — which spans the Fraser River just southeast of Vancouver, and stands out as one of the larger infrastructure projects in the country — Hunt, along with other leaders from the USW, urged Horgan to buy the steel for the bridge from a Canadian producer. Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

April retail sales were excellent (for freight markets)

freightwaves.com
The headlines read something like “April retail sales flat, missing expectations.” Indeed, Americans spent 0.0% more in April (seasonally adjusted) than we did in March. Compared to this time last year, retail sales in April climbed 37.2%. Both of these numbers mean very little because of their respective wacky denominators. Read more here.

US produce shippers face new export crisis: now pallets are in short supply

theloadstar.com
US produce exporters are about to add to their long catalogue of woes this year.
After trade wars, severe weather, capacity constraints and lack of containers, they now face the prospect of insufficient pallets to ship their goods – just as they prepare for the seasonal push in shipping.
The past year created a seemingly endless procession of shortages – from toilet paper, and a lengthy list of commodities, to planes, trucks, warehouse space and empty containers. Read more here (login required).