General

Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the world's largest cargo throughput port, was found to have a case of a person with a positive nucleic acid test. Ningbo Meishan Terminal has suspended all inbound and outbound services. This is undoubtedly worse for the current fragile supply chain.

According to news from the Ningbo Municipal Health Commission on August 11, during the routine test of the workers in Ningbo Zhoushan Port, a positive case of the nucleic acid test of the new coronavirus was found. Currently, they are being kept in isolation in designated hospitals.

Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal Co., Ltd. issued an announcement today stating that due to the terminal system failure, the company decided to suspend all inbound and outbound services from 3:30 on the same day, and the resumption time will be notified separately.

According to statistics from Zhejiang Port and Shipping Management Center, Ningbo Zhoushan Port completed a cargo throughput of 623 million tons in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%; completed a container throughput of 16.07 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 21.3%.

At the same time, Ningbo Zhoushan Port has 270 docks over 10,000 tons, 272 container routes, and trade channels with more than 190 countries and regions.

As we all know, on May 21 this year, Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminal (YICT) had a confirmed case of terminal staff, which made the world’s largest single container terminal and the port that bears a quarter of China’s trade with the United States for more than one month. South China and even the global container shipping market is in chaos!

This time, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, which was suspected of being diagnosed and shut down, has maintained the world's largest cargo throughput for the 12th consecutive year, and its container throughput continues to rank third in the world. Global container ports surpass Shenzhen Port.

The impact of the outbreak of the epidemic is still difficult to judge, but it will definitely have a serious impact on the originally fragile container shipping market!

The majority of foreign trade export companies need to pay special attention to the development of the incident, and hurry up to arrange the existing goods to be shipped from other neighboring ports as soon as possible! ! !

Unexpected congestion in Ningbo and Shanghai ports

In fact, the two largest container ports in the world, Shanghai Port and Ningbo Port, are experiencing unprecedented port congestion!

The reason is that strong export demand, the recent typhoon and severe weather, and the severe new crown pneumonia epidemic from the Jiangsu area have jointly caused further supply chain destruction in the areas where the two major ports are located.

At the end of last month, Ningbo Zhoushan Port and Shanghai Port were hit by a typhoon. With the recent sudden spread of the new crown virus, most ports are implementing prevention and control measures, requiring nucleic acid testing of crew members, and ships are forced to stay in ports until the negative test results are confirmed. This has led to a decline in the productivity of these two ports.

The Copenhagen-based Ocean Intelligence Organization (Sea-Intelligence) is data-led to investigate the congestion of container ports in 22 ports around the world. The survey results show that Shanghai Port and Ningbo Zhoushan Port have recently faced tremendous pressure due to congestion.

Comparing data, among the 22 ports surveyed, only Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Vietnam have more congestion than the two major ports in China.

Below is a map drawn by Danish liner consulting company eeSea, which shows a large number of container ships moored near these two ports.

Congestion at West Coast Ports has worsened

While congestion in the Asian supply chain is increasing, the delays at the ports on the west coast of the United States have clearly reappeared.

AIS data shows that there are about 30 ships anchored in San Pedro Bay, not far from Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Maersk warned customers of serious delays, the situation in Southern California has deteriorated, and the number of ships at anchorage has doubled in the past few weeks.

Maersk said that on the east coast and southeast of the United States, due to the two-week delay in truck transportation and the prolonged container detention time, it has become more difficult to purchase chassis. In addition, railway congestion has further exacerbated the delays in the delivery of imported goods from the United States and hindered the return of empty containers to Asia.

Maersk said that the average length of stay in the United States has increased by 35%, which means that overall capacity has been reduced by 35%.

US imports in August will set a record!

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), August seems to be the cruelest month for American shippers across the Pacific.

Because the supply chain has been overloaded, it is expected that the number of containers entering North America will set a new record for shipping demand during the holiday season.

NRF's global port tracking agency predicted last Friday that US imports in August will reach 2.37 million TEUs. This will exceed the total of 2.33 million TEUs in May.

NRF said this is the highest monthly total since it started tracking imported containers in 2002. If the situation is true, the data for August will increase by 12.6% over the same period last year.

At the same time, Maersk also issued a warning that as the supply chain will face greater pressure this month, the company urges customers to return containers and chassis as soon as possible.

The world’s largest container carrier stated that customers have held containers and chassis for much longer than usual, causing a shortage of imports and increasing delays at the ports of departure and destination.

Maersk said, “I hope that customers will return the chassis and containers as soon as possible, which will give us and other suppliers the opportunity to ship the equipment back to the high-demand port of departure at a faster speed.”

Maersk added that the current situation does not seem to end soon. "We don't expect congestion to be alleviated in the short term...On the contrary, it is expected that the increase in the transportation volume of the entire industry will continue until the beginning of 2022 or even longer."

In late August, many shipping companies started to levy new surcharges

As the peak season from August to September hits, recently, many shipping companies have announced a batch of various surcharges

Mediterranean Shipping:

From August 15th, MSC Mediterranean Shipping will impose a service interruption surcharge SDS from Asia to Northern Europe. The specific cost implementation standard will be notified separately.

CMA CGM:

Starting from August 15th, CMA CMA CGM will levy a congestion surcharge PCS in the Port of Liverpool.

Collection standard: 150 USD/TEU.

Scope: From Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau to Liverpool, UK (GBLIV)

Starting from September 5th, CMA CMA CGM will levy an overweight surcharge OWS for East South America.

Levy standard: 300 USD/20-foot dry container, gross weight of the container equal to or more than 18 tons.

Scope: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, India to the east coast of South America

Maersk:

From August 16, MSK Maersk will levy a peak season surcharge PSS to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Levy standard: all 20-foot containers are 750 dollars; all 40-foot containers are 1500 dollars; all 45-foot tall containers are 1500 dollars.

Scope: All cargo from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea to the ports of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane

Starting from September 1, MSK Maersk adjusted the demurrage and detention fees in Singapore Port.

Scope: all over the world to Singapore

Hapag-Lloyd:

From August 9th, HPL Hapag-Lloyd features will be received in South American East GRI.

Collection standard: 500 USD/TEU

Scope: From Mainland China in East Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan, Eastern Russia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei to East South America Coastal Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay

For other shipping company surcharge adjustments, please consult the corresponding shipping company for details.

Please pay close attention and tell each other. When checking the price/quotation, be sure to add the cost!

I also remind shippers who have recent shipment plans to communicate with shipping companies, customers, etc., and make sure to make an early decision to arrange bookings in advance, so as not to affect shipments!