For the third day in a row, Guangzhou, China, home to about 19 million people, posted more than 2,000 COVID cases. While the city is only under a partial lockdown, most of Guangzhou’s 11 districts are subject to some type of COVID restrictions. Should the city go on to impose restrictions similar to those imposed by Shanghai in the spring, we can expect to see exports seriously delayed. 

While the Guangzhou ports of Huangpu and Nansha are not yet experiencing excessive export container dwell times, neighboring ports in Shenzhen (Yantian and Shekou) are showing high export dwell times of over 8 days. Approximately 90 container vessels representing more than 435k TEU carrying capacity are anchored or moored in the Peral River region, including Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou. 

We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops.

Cyclone Sitrang forced the closure of all of Bangladesh’s ports and waterways on Oct 24. The country’s largest port, Chittagong handles 90% of Bangladesh’s exports and imports and is a vital transshipment hub for south Asia. It is expected that the storm will result in shipment delays in the apparel and textile sectors. 

project44 data shows an almost 98% decline in incoming vessel TEU capacity at the port on the day of the cyclone. Though port operations have resumed today after 24 hours of suspension, officials have advised caution to vessels due to rough seas.

With the Russia-Ukraine war entering a new phase, grain shipments are at risk of further delay. After the UN-Turkey brokered deal with Russia that allowed grain to be exported from Ukraine, project44 data indicate a rise in the number of cargo ships leaving Ukrainian ports. Despite being much lower than pre-war levels, the number of vessels has increased by 291% since July - from 58 to 227. Nonetheless, the escalation may threaten to derail this growth trajectory in October. 

Now a Category 1 hurricane, the storm is rolling across central Florida and heading toward the East Coast, closing ports and airports across Florida and parts of the South. From September 27- October 2, Delta Airlines Cargo has imposed embargoes for on incoming/​outgoing/​transfer products across Florida as well as Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. Two of Port Miami’s main container terminals have been closed along with Port Canaveral and Jaxport. project44’s vessel position data reveals that the vessel congestion at the Port of Savannah has dispersed away from the storm’s path to positions further out at sea. Both the Port of Savannah and Brunswick will remain open and operate on a regular schedule from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST on Thursday. GPA will provide day operations through Thursday, with truck gates opening at 4 a.m. and closing at 6 p.m. EST. There will be no Night Gates Thursday.

A week after being closed due to typhoon Hinnamor, the ports of Ningbo and Shanghai found themselves closed again as typhoon Muifa made landfall. The port of Ningbo is currently seeing dwell times for export containers reaching as high as 10 days and import containers reaching up to 14 days. 

The number of cargo vessels around Shanghai also dropped 69% as ships avoided the storm moving to shelter further south near the Taiwan Strait and up north near Busan, South Korea. project44 analysis of cargo vessel positions show them moving away from the eye of the storm on September 14^th as it made its way up the coast. Vessel delays of 2 to 4 days are expected.

Typhoon Hinnamor, the strongest storm of the year, has caused extensive flooding to coastal cities in South Korea, but the extensive destruction that many expected has largely been avoided. Trains were suspended, ports closed, and hundreds of flights were canceled across the region. As the storm headed northward, operations at the Ports of Ningbo, Shanghai, Yangshan, and Busan were temporally suspended, causing delays. Vessel TEU capacity calling at the Ports of Ningbo, Shanghai, and Yangshan was reduced as ships avoided the storm’s path on Sept 4-5, according to project44 data. Conversely, operations at the port of Qingdao saw no significant impact from the typhoon.

The South China Sea is expected to be disrupted for the next 24 to 48 hours by strong winds and heavy rain caused by the typhoon. Flights and ocean freight are already being disrupted due to sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/​h), which in the Atlantic are equivalent to low-end Category 1 hurricanes. Warnings were issued ahead of Ma-on’s arrival in Hong Kong and several cities in southern China. Shenzhen flights were canceled from 3 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, and the port suspended entry of full and empty containers, with 2 to 3 days of delays expected.

Hong Kong’s terminals have stopped accepting empty containers since the afternoon, but full containers can still be returned. Over the last week, project44 recorded a 66.3% drop in the total vessel TEU capacity calling at the port on 25 Aug, as well as an 80.4% rise in the dwell time for transshipment containers in Hong Kong.

Over 2,000 workers at Britain’s largest container port went on strike Sunday, demanding better pay amid rising living costs. Felixstowe in Suffolk, eastern England, handles almost half of the container freight entering the UK. It is expected that strike action will result in huge disruptions throughout the supply chain in the UK and beyond. According to project44 data, vessels are already avoiding the port, with total vessel TEU capacity dropping by a whopping 37.6% compared to last week. The strike is already causing vessels to redirect to nearby London Gateway, resulting in a 45% increase in vessel TEU capacity calling there this week.

China has begun its largest-ever naval exercise encircling Taiwan as tensions between the US and China escalate. Although there is no evidence so far of such intentions, Chinese forces off the northern coast of Taiwan could potentially seal off Keelung, Taiwan’s second-largest port, leading to a major global supply chain disruption. According to project44 data, the port of Keelung is already facing weekly delays of up to 8 days since the week of July 11. We will be closely monitoring the situation to keep you posted on possible vessel disruptions.

Following days of protests against California’s AB5 law, which requires independent truckers to be reclassified as employees, delays at the Port of Oakland are beginning to mount. According to project44 data, the Port of Oakland is experiencing the largest delays thus far, with import container dwell times skyrocketing to 17.5 days. This represents a 41% increase since July 11. Although container dwell times have also increased slightly at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the strike’s impact is less pronounced as of now.

The Port of Oakland is experiencing a major ​“container-pickup” issue, resulting in the average weekly dwell time for import containers to exceed 14 days. Based on project44 data, this is a 56% increase over April 2022, when dwell times averaged under 4 days. As a result of these rising delays, Oakland will begin charging late fees for containers that stay at the port longer than four days. Before this change, containers had a seven-day free-use period. It is believed that higher demurrage rates will encourage ship owners to move their shipments out of the port as quickly as possible.

Multiple trade unions have called for a nationwide strike on Monday, June 20, at one of Europe’s largest ports - the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, demanding better pay, better social dialogue, and increased investment in the public sector. Last month, a similar one-day strike had brought several port operations across the country to a standstill. Moreover, the timing couldn’t be any worse when the port is already going through high congestion.

While the peak season is underway, the threat of strikes in European ports is weighing heavily on shippers’ minds. A similar threat looms over ports in Germany after negotiations between the port employers and dockworkers trade union ver.di yielded no result on Saturday, June 11. This comes a day after a ​“warning strike” was initiated by over 12,000 workers at ports across Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, and Emden during the late shift on Thursday.

Following nearly two months of lockdown measures in China’s largest commercial and financial hub, businesses are officially getting the go-ahead to restart operations as of June 1. The lockdown of Shanghai has strained not only local business but supply chains across the globe. As manufacturing ramps-up to meet the back-log of orders, the question remains if a whip-lash of imports to the US and Europe will put further stress on the supply chain in the run-up to the summer season. project44 data reveals that Import containers to the Port of Shanghai (CNSHG) suffered the most peaking at 15.5 days on April 21. Import dwell times remained high with 9.5 days on May 31.

project44 data has verified several abnormal ​“outages” from the Russian vessel, Pozynich, purported by CNN to hold stolen grain from Ukraine. These dark periods have progressively increased since the sanctions imposed on Russia, sometimes lasting >1 week in length.

The heaviest rainfall in six decades has claimed the lives of at least 60 people and has caused widespread damage to containers, terminals, and access roads in and around the Port of Durban. Maersk announced that it would suspend demurrage and detention fees at the port for the remainder of the week.

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The rise in imports coupled with the shortage of intermodal rail assets is weighing on container dwell times at some of the major ports on the West Coast, especially the port of Tacoma, which is witnessing a 19% rise in import dwell times, climbing up to an average of 14.6 days since the beginning of the year with 12.3 days. It is also a steep 156% rise since the last low of 5.6 days in week 7 of 2022. Even the export dwell times are rising by 74%, reaching 8 days since week 10 when it was a mere 4.6 days.

Following a local government announcement on March 20, the week-long lockdown in Shenzhen will allow carriers, factories, and distribution centers to resume normal operations. While the COVID outbreak comes under control, some vessel delays at Yantian are expected as terminals cope with the backlog of containers. Data from project44 reveals that export container dwell times have reached 9.8 days on March 20 at the Port of Yantian. Compared to last year’s lockdown in June, where dwell times soared to 20 days, this lockdown event will have a less disruptive impact on global supply chains.

project44 data shows a build-up of vessels around Shenzhen, Ningbo, and Shanghai as transport to and from these critical ports has slowed down. Although port authorities in Shenzhen have said the port will stay open, and some vessels are continuing to dock, congestion is increasing as port workers and truckers are forced to stay at home.

Beginning March 1, a number of shipping lines suspended all cargo bookings to and from Russia. These measures are in place in order to comply with sanctions and export controls recently imposed by different jurisdictions. Current project44 data shows a 35.5% decline in total TEU vessel capacity calling at Russian ports since the sanctions began. Assuming the average TEU is worth ~$40,000 USD - the reduction of import value going into Russia could have dropped by up to $1.4 billion in the past 18 days (on a fully laden basis). As the US and other countries ban or restrict Russian oil and gas imports, Brent crude futures are currently around $108 a barrel, 15% lower compared to last week’s peek of $128 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures are trading around $103.80 a barrel, a 16% decrease from last week’s peak of $123.70, indicting an ease in market volatility.

Further analysis from project44’s data shows a significant increase in container dwell times in the port of Odessa, Ukraine for both imports and exports. In our month-over-month analysis we saw export container dwell times increase 52%, from 8.4 days to 12.8 days, while import container dwell times rose 44%, from 4.2 days to 6.3 days. This is an evolving situation with ramifications on the global supply chain -- we will report back with updated information on dwell times and shipping delays as more data becomes available.

As we continue to follow the impact of the Ukraine-Russia border crisis in real time, our team analyzed existing data from the project44 platform on shipment delays in Odessa, Ukraine to help us set a baseline on the effects of the crisis. Odessa is a critical port city and transportation hub in Ukraine that sits on the Black Sea close to Crimea and the ​“pressure points” of the border crisis. 

In our month-over-month analysis, project44’s data shows a notable 28% increase in shipment delays in Odessa. Our team is currently analyzing Container Dwell times in Odessa for both imports and exports and will report back shortly. 

The Freedom Convoy protests in Paris are another global event with implications for the supply chain, with potential immediate effects on parcel shipments in the city of Paris itself. As you can see in the chart to the right, Last Mile data from project44’s platform indicates that the protests are coming during a time of already elevated parcel delivery delays that are continuing to trend higher. These protests may mean a longer timeframe to reduce these delays or result in further delays to parcel delivery times. We will be closely monitoring our platform and report back any notable changes in delivery times.

As previously reported, the project44 platform showed slight increase in the rate of shipment delays in US-to-Canada freight shipments. Our most recent data analysis shows that things appear to be trending in the right direction, with a notable decline in shipment times for both truckload freight and consumer parcel in the past 24 hours. This is positive news, but truckload freight shipment times remain over 5% higher than they were one month ago. 

Stay tuned for further updates on each of these evolving situations.