ocean container shipping Archives - Page 21 of 49

If globalization is really over, what happens to supply chains?

13 April 2022

Tariffs, COVID, port pileups, the Ever Given, the Russia-Ukraine war, mounting U.S.-China tensions — it seems like threats to world trade are the rule, not the exception. What does this mean to the future of global supply chains?

The positive view: Importers see the risks ahead and will act. They will preemptively revamp supply chains and become nimbler and more resilient. Economic benefits of globalization are too great to give up. Countries and companies will work around hurdles.

“No one can...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/if-globalization-is-really-over-what-happens-to-supply-chains

As transport stocks sink, Los Angeles port volumes soar

13 April 2022

Fear of the supply chain crisis is fading. Transport stocks are crashing. Yet an enormous amount of cargo is still flooding into U.S. ports.

On Tuesday, the Port of Los Angeles reported better-than-expected volumes for March — it was the port’s best March ever, the fourth-best month in its history, and it capped the best-ever first quarter.

Total throughput was 958,674 twenty-foot equivalent units, topped only by May 2021, October 2020 and August 2020. First-quarter throughput was 1.8 million...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/as-transport-stocks-sink-los-angeles-port-volumes-soar

Container shipping at the crossroads: The big unwind or party on?

9 April 2022

Is faltering consumer demand curbing imports, allowing port congestion to finally ease, releasing ship capacity and causing spot ocean rates to sink? Is this the beginning of “the big unwind”?

Or does waning West Coast port congestion stem from temporarily lower exports out of China due to COVID lockdowns, combined with a congestion shift toward East Coast ports? Is the economy still strong and the ocean freight market still fundamentally firm, with the port crunch to worsen in the second half,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/container-shipping-at-the-crossroads-the-big-unwind-or-party-on

Retail boss warns on supply chain, likens demand risk to ‘Big Short’

30 March 2022

Some quarterly calls by public companies are basically worthless, featuring analysts lobbing softball questions to CEOs who cherry-pick facts to pump their own stock.

And then there was Tuesday afternoon’s call hosted by Gary Friedman, CEO of luxury home furnishings brand RH (NYSE: RH), formerly known as Restoration Hardware.

Friedman — with what one analyst called “brutal honesty” — expounded upon supply chain woes, surging ocean freight rates, soaring inflation and a sudden plunge in consumer...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/retail-boss-warns-on-supply-chain-compares-demand-risk-to-big-short

Ship charter rates still ‘spectacular’ but war could tip the balance

30 March 2022

Do container line bosses believe the historic freight boom will end anytime soon? If the ship charter market is any indication, it sure doesn’t look like it.

Liner companies continue to pay record-high sums to rent container ships for up to five years, even as the Russia-Ukraine war caps rate gains.

The Harpex index, which measures container-ship charter rates, has held steady at its highest level ever for the past three weeks. Alphaliner recently said that charter rates are at “historic highs”...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ship-charter-rates-still-spectacular-but-war-could-tip-the-balance

War and shipping stocks: Container, dry bulk, product tanker shares up

24 March 2022

The Russia-Ukraine war is the kind of geopolitics-altering event that should shake up trade flows for years to come, promising big repercussions for shipping shares.

A month into the conflict, American Shipper spoke with Randy Giveans, shipping analyst at Jefferies, about how the war is affecting — or not yet affecting — the stocks in different vessel segments.

There have been some big stock moves already, outperforming the broader stock market. But it’s still too early to see the full impact....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/war-and-shipping-stocks-container-dry-bulk-product-tanker-shares-up

East Coast ports about to get slammed by a lot more ships

19 March 2022

There were 63 container ships waiting off East and Gulf Coast ports on Friday morning, plus another eight off the transshipment hub in Freeport, Bahamas — and it looks like it’s about to get worse.

The number of liner services calling in East Coast ports from Asia will surge to a new record high in the coming months as more cargo is diverted away from the Pacific gateway in Los Angeles/Long Beach.

The potential result: escalating ship queues along the East Coast and deteriorating service for...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/east-coast-ports-about-to-get-slammed-by-a-lot-more-ships

Is this the calm before California ports’ next cargo storm?

17 March 2022

Finally, some relief from supply chain bottlenecks for the besieged ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In the first two months of 2022, the queue of ships waiting for Southern California berths fell, velocity of cargo moving through terminals increased and more boxes were unloaded at the docks.

Relief may be brief, however.

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, acknowledged during a press conference on Wednesday that another round of cargo surges could lie ahead. This...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-this-the-calm-before-california-ports-next-cargo-storm

What China COVID spike, massive lockdowns mean to shipping

15 March 2022

COVID is not done with shipping yet. China is suffering its worst outbreak since the pandemic began. Shenzhen (population: 17.5 million) went into lockdown Sunday, closing factories. Cases have surged in Shanghai, where new restrictions are in place.

Shanghai is the site of the world’s largest port, Shenzhen the third largest. When an outbreak hit the Yantian terminal in Shenzhen last June, twice as many vessels were delayed as in the Ever Given accident in the Suez Canal.

How the new outbreak...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/what-chinas-covid-spike-massive-lockdowns-mean-to-shipping

How container shipping’s historic boom funded a $2B cruise bailout

11 March 2022

Back in March 2020, no one could have predicted how the pandemic would play out. Stifel analyst Ben Nolan wrote at the time that “it is fair to assume it is not helpful for container shipping.” He saw liner company MSC as “specifically … at risk” because it also owned “a very large cruise operation, which you could imagine has seen better days.”

As it turned out, the pandemic was exceptionally helpful to container shipping. Supercharged consumer spending and extreme port congestion boosted rates...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-container-shippings-historic-boom-funded-a-2b-cruise-bailout

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