Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Sept. 12-18

September 13, 2012 by Brian Feito|Exports

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Sept. 12-18. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the nine 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 Sept. 12-18 include:

Over the next 3 weeks, the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Savannah, and Norfolk 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, New York, and Savannah during the next 3 weeks. Availability in Norfolk is also expected to increase, except for 40ft refrigerated 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 20ft refrigerated equipment in Chicago and Memphis.
The number of refrigerated containers available over the next three weeks in Minneapolis and Oakland is estimated to be negative—the greatest deficit from the participating carriers is expected in Oakland. However, available 20ft refrigerated containers are expected to increase in Seattle and Tacoma, and both 20ft and 40ft refrigerated containers in Houston.
Over the next 3 weeks, most locations reported are estimated to have increasing availability of dry containers—particularly those locations of interest to containerized grain exporters as harvest approaches, such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Kansas City as well as the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Norfolk. In particular, 20ft dry containers in Columbus, Kansas City, New York, and Memphis are expected to increase significantly over the next 3 weeks.
Overall decreases are estimated for container availability in New Orleans and Oakland over the next 3 weeks. The largest decreases are estimated for 40ft standard and highcube containers in Houston, New Orleans, and Oakland, and for 40ft high-cube and refrigerated containers in Tacoma.

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