United States: Auckland is seeing declining merchandise volumes amid a supply chain congestion

By Redacción PortalPortuario.cl

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The Auckland harbor It reported a drop in freight volumes in January due to widespread supply chain congestion.

Thus, the volume of imports decreased last month by 11.9% compared to January 2020. Exports decreased by 11.3%.

Factors causing the decline include the late arrival of ships from Southern California, where there are up to 60 ships waiting for berthing space, and the temporary loss of berthing capacity at the largest offshore terminal in Oakland where new ships are assembled. Auckland as ships ferry more empty cargo containers to Asia.

The port described the drop in freight as an anomaly at a time when US importers are facing increasing consumer demand. Container volumes are expected to increase in the coming months as ships are jammed.

“There’s a lot of cargo trapped on ships waiting to get here after leaving Southern California,” he said. Auckland Seaport director Brian Brandes. “What we care about is to deliver shipments to our customers as quickly as possible.”

The volume of containerized US imports from Asia is expected to remain strong during at least June. This puts pressure on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where ships connect before visiting Oakland.

Congestion in Southern California is causing boat delays from Oakland for up to a week. As a result, ships arrive at the port hours later and sometimes miss mooring times.

The French shipping company CMA CGM This month it fixed the issue by entering the first connectivity service in Auckland. CMA CGM Weekly Service Ships conduct their Oakland US first call, bypassing Southern California.

The port said other ocean carriers are considering making their first Oakland calls by the middle of the year.

Although Auckland’s imports and exports dropped by double digits in January, total container volumes fell by only 5.8%. This is because the port saw a 15.6% increase in empty container shipping. The demand for empty containers is high in Asian ports as they are needed to transport goods imported from the United States.