Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Aug. 8-14

August 9, 2012 by Brian Feito|Exports

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the “Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report” for the week of Aug. 8-14. 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.

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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. 8-14 include:

Over the next 3 weeks, the Ports of Los Angeles/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 Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York during the next 3 weeks. Availability in Norfolk is also expected to increase, except for 40ft refrigerated containers. Availability is expected to decrease in Oakland with the exception of 20ft dry containers.
Among the inland locations reported, Dallas, Chicago, 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.
The participating carriers are reporting estimated increases over the next 3 weeks for nearly all containers types, with the exception of New Orleans, Oakland, and Tacoma. Significant increases are expected for 40ft high-cube containers in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Columbus; 40ft standard containers in Charleston, New York, Columbus, Minneapolis, and Savannah; and 20ft standard containers in Charleston, Columbus, Savannah, and Seattle. Increases in refrigerated equipment are expected in Denver, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Los Angeles and Long Beach.
On August 7, Drewry Maritime Research released the latest edition of their annual Container Census report, detailing the world’s container equipment fleet. According to Drewry, the container equipment fleet grew by 8.5 percent during 2011, taking the global fleet to 31.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units, compared to a 7 percent growth in 2010. The report further forecasts annual container fleet growth will be around 7 percent from 2012 to 2015, as shipping companies continue to adopt a tight container/slot operating ratio, while also increasing replacement purchases.

Additionally, starting this week, the data previously presented as Long Beach in the report has been adjusted to include both Los Angeles and Long Beach availability.

¹The 18 intermodal locations included in the report are Long Beach/Los Angeles, 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.