Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Jan. 9-15
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Jan. 9-15. 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 Jan. 9-15 include:
Ports: The Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Savannah are expected to have the most available containers among the reported port locations over the next three weeks. Container availability estimates in each of these port locations rose this week compared with the previous week. Availability at each of these locations is expected to increase over the next three weeks, with the exception of 40ft reefers in Norfolk and Savannah as well as 40ft high-cube containers in Savannah.
Inland Locations: Among the reported inland locations, Chicago, Dallas, Memphis and Columbus are expected to have the most containers available over the next three weeks. Each of these locations saw increases over the previous week’s estimates; Memphis in particular increased considerably compared with the previous week. Availability is estimated to increase each week for all container types except for reefers in Chicago and Columbus.
Equipment: Overall availability for all container types was down this week with the exception of 40ft high-cube containers due mostly to a drop in availability in Los Angeles/Long Beach.
- The Current Week estimates are higher at most of the reported locations than the previous week. However, decreases in 40ft high-cube and refrigerated containers in Los Angeles/Long Beach, Kansas City, and Cincinnati, as well as 20ft and 40ft containers in Houston offset the increases at other locations.
- Over the next three weeks, overall availability for the participating carriers is in a deficit status in Houston, Tacoma, New Orleans, and Seattle.
- Container availability estimates over the next three weeks are negative for dry containers in Tacoma and Houston; however, refrigerated container estimates are positive.
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.