Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Nov. 14-20

November 15, 2012 by Brian Feito|Transport

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Nov. 14-20. 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. 14-20 include:

Overall, 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 over the next 3 weeks. Container availability estimates in New York, Norfolk, and Houston fell slightly this week compared with the previous week. Availability estimates in Los Angeles/Long Beach are up slightly 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 as well as 20ft and 40ft dry containers in Memphis.
Over the next 3 weeks, 20ft containers among the inland locations are in greatest supply in Chicago followed by Dallas, Columbus, and Minneapolis. At port locations, New York is estimated to have the greatest supply followed by Los Angeles/Long Beach, Houston, and Norfolk. In terms of 40ft containers, Dallas is estimated to have the most over the next 3 weeks followed by Chicago, Columbus, and Memphis. At port locations, Los Angeles/Long Beach will reportedly have the greatest supply followed by New York, Norfolk, Oakland, and Charleston.
OSCAR includes the participation of 7 WTSA carriers this week. The 8th member carrier continues recovery efforts from Superstorm Sandy.

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.