Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Sept. 19-25
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Sept. 19-25. 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. 19-25 include:
- Ocean carriers are managing their container fleets to accommodate the peak season demand for eastbound shipments from Asia and to address the East and Gulf coasts labor contract negotiations between the International Longshoremen Association and the U.S.Maritime Alliance. Some importers are directing carriers to discharge cargo on the West Coast instead of the East or Gulf coasts in case of a potential port disruption. According to this week’s data from the participating carriers, container availability estimates do not indicate significant changes from the previous week. Carriers are expecting increases at most reported locations over the next 3 weeks as is typical during peak import season.
- Over the next 3 weeks, the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Savannah 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 overall refrigerated equipment in Chicago and 20ft refrigerated containers in Memphis.
- The number of refrigerated containers available over the next three weeks in Minneapolis, Oakland, and Tacoma is estimated to be negative—the greatest deficit from the participating carriers is expected in Tacoma followed closely by Oakland. However, the estimated number of available refrigerated containers increased over the previous week in Los Angeles/Long Beach, Norfolk, Seattle, Houston, Charleston, Dallas, and Denver.
- Over the next 3 weeks, most locations reported are estimated to have increasing availability of dry containers—significant jumps are expected in Cincinnati, Columbus, Kansas City, Memphis, New York, Savannah, and Charleston.
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.