Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Aug. 29 - Sept. 4

August 30, 2012 by Brian Feito|Exports

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the “Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report” for the week of Aug. 29 - Sept. 4. 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. 29 - Sept. 4 include:

Hurricane Isaac made landfall near Plaquemines Parish Aug. 28, overtopping some levees and leaving much of the area without power. By Aug. 30 it was expected to move from Louisiana into Arkansas. Port facilities remain closed until the storm passes. Post- storm assessments of facilities and river navigation may be delayed by the widespread power outages.
A large decrease in container availability is expected over the next 3 weeks for the Port of New Orleans and Houston.
Over the next 3 weeks, the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York are expected to have the most available containers among the port locations reported. Availability for all equipment types is, however, expected to have a slight decrease at these locations during the next 3 weeks.
Among the inland locations reported, Dallas and Chicago are expected to have the most containers available over the next 3 weeks. Availability is estimated to remain unchanged for all container types.
This week’s data show Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York as the top 2 locations for refrigerated equipment. Availability of 40ft High Cube containers is expected to see strong increases in Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis, New York and Savannah. Availability of 20ft dry containers is expected to see strong increases in Dallas, Denver, Memphis and New York. Decreases in 20ft container availability are expected in Houston, New Orleans and Memphis.
Significant increases are expected over the next 3 weeks for 40ft standard containers in Dallas and New York.

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.