Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Nov. 28 - Dec. 4

November 29, 2012 by Brian Feito|Transport

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Nov. 27 - Dec. 4. 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 Three Weeks on Five 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. 27 - Dec. 4 include:

Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, only six carriers are reporting their estimates this week.
Overall, the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York are expected to have the most available containers among the reported port locations over the next three weeks. Container availability estimates in Houston fell this week compared with the previous week. Availability estimates in Minneapolis are up over the previous week.
Among the reported inland locations, Dallas, Chicago, and Memphis are expected to have the most containers available over the next three weeks. Availability in Chicago remains unchanged from last week whereas Dallas and Denver took a significant fall. Availability is estimated to increase each week for all container types except for 20ft dry containers in Minneapolis.
At the port locations and over the next three weeks, 40ft containers are in greatest supply in Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York. Similarly, at the inland locations, Dallas is estimated to have the greatest supply of forties, followed by Chicago. In terms of 20ft containers, Chicago is estimated to have the most available containers over the next three weeks at reported inland locations, followed by Dallas.
Over the next three weeks, a deficit of 40ft High cube containers is expected in Tacoma, Minneapolis, Houston and Oakland.

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.