Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Aug. 1-7

August 2, 2012 by Brian Feito|Exports

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the “Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report” for the week of Aug. 1-7. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the 10 member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA)². Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.

Start My Free Preview

Weekly Estimates for Next 3 Weeks on 5 Types of Containers; Includes Maps, Tables

Estimates are available for the current week, as well as the subsequent two weeks, for each of the following five types of shipping containers: 20ft dry, 40ft dry, 40ft high-cube (HC), 20ft reefer, and 40ft reefer. The report has tables for each intermodal location showing availability of each type of shipping container from each carrier (carriers are anonymous).

Highlights of the report for the week of Aug. 1-7 include:

Over the next 3 weeks, the Ports of Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Oakland are expected to have the most available containers among the port locations reported. Availability for all equipment types is expected to increase at Long Beach and New York during the next 3 weeks. Availability in Norfolk is also expected to increase except for 20ft refrigerated containers. Availability is expected to decrease in Oakland.
Among the inland locations reported, Chicago, Dallas, and Memphis are expected to have the most containers available over the next 3 weeks. Availability is estimated to increase each week for all container types except for refrigerated equipment in Chicago.
Over the past three weeks, the data have shown that availability of refrigerated containers is highest at port locations. This week’s data show the top 7 locations for refrigerated equipment are Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, Oakland, Seattle, Savannah, and Houston, followed by Chicago, which ranked 8th for the week. Availability of 20ft refrigerated containers is expected to increase significantly over the next 3 weeks in Charleston, Seattle, Houston, and Long Beach.
Availability of dry containers is highest in Long Beach and New York this week, followed by Dallas, and then Chicago. Availability of all container types is higher in Chicago than Dallas, but in terms of dry equipment, Dallas surpassed Chicago this week.
Significant increases are expected over the next 3 weeks for 40ft high-cube containers in Chicago and Kansas City, 40ft standard containers in New York, Cincinnati, and Minneapolis, and 20ft standard containers in Columbus, Savannah, Charleston, and Seattle. Decreases are expected for 40ft standard containers in Savannah, Tacoma, Houston, Seattle, and New Orleans, and for 40ft high-cube containers in Tacoma.

¹The 18 intermodal locations included in the report are Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Memphis, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah.

²These carriers are APL, COSCO, Evergreen, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag Lloyd, Yang Ming Transport Corporation, OOCL, NYK Line, K Line, and Hyundai Merchant Marine.