Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Nov. 7-13

November 8, 2012 by Brian Feito|Transport

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Nov. 7-13. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the eight 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 Nov. 7-13 include:

Container terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey are open, but operations continue to struggle in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Power limitations and traffic congestion continue to plague the port. Some carriers have diverted cargo to other East Coast ports such as Norfolk, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. One participating ocean carrier was unable to provide data for this week’s OSCAR due to continued recovery efforts from the storm. Nevertheless, other carriers that operate vessels in the port and have offices that were not affected were able to provide NY/NJ container availability data for this week’s report.
Over the next 3 weeks, the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Houston are expected to have the most available containers among the reported port locations. Container availability estimates in New York fell slightly this week compared with the previous week likely due to the effects of Superstorm Sandy; however, the port still ranks second in overall availability among the reporting locations. Availability estimates in Houston made a significant jump over the previous week. Availability for all equipment types is expected to increase over the next 3 weeks in Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York. However, dry containers are expected to decrease in Houston, as well as 40ft reefers in Norfolk.
Among the reported inland locations, 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.
Carriers are expecting significant increases in dry equipment over the next 3 weeks in Dallas, New York, Charleston (40ft high-cubes), Chicago (20ft containers), Kansas City (20ft and 40ft high-cube containers), Los Angeles/Long Beach (20ft containers), Memphis (40ft containers), Minneapolis (40ft containers), and Savannah (40ft high-cubes).
Over the next 3 weeks, most locations show an increase in overall container availability with the exception of New Orleans, Tacoma, and Oakland. Refrigerated equipment in Seattle and Minneapolis remain in deficit.

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, K Line, and Hyundai Merchant Marine.