Affected by the trade war, according to the online logistics trading platform Wright OS, container freight from China to the United States has increased by more than 100 % since the beginning of December 2017 compared with the same period last year: freight prices from China to the west coast of the United States have increased by 128 % year on year, while freight prices to the east coast of the United States have increased by 123 % year on year.
In contrast, freight charges from China to northern Europe increased by only 11 % over the same period due to the need for goods delivery before Christmas.
As the Spring Festival is approaching in Asian countries such as China, factories will be closed. In order to be able to deliver the goods on time, it also increases the current freight volume of the U.S. west coast ports.
According to the report, U.S. West Coast ports, especially Los Angeles and Long Beach, received unprecedented throughput and experienced serious congestion before the Lunar New Year.
The company said in a consultation report: " It is reported that once containers go out-gated, many containers will be put on hold longer than normal." " These delays are responsible for the shortage of trailers in the region."
It is reported that this situation is mainly caused by
Long - term effects of previous typhoons in the East Pacific
Christmas, New Year and other holidays are approaching, and the number of dockers is decreasing
It is planned to transport goods before the tariff increase on China's imported products is implemented on January 1
Earlier this week, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association reported that the stay time in Los Angeles - Long Beach increased from 2.5 days earlier this year to 3.5 days last month, increasing the pressure on equipment availability, truck transportation and wharf capacity.
Industry officials said: " Shipping companies are encouraging customers to pick up the containers as soon as they arrive at their destination and return them to the designated docks."
According to the monthly global port tracking report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, after a record 2.04 million TEU containers were imported in October, a significant year-on-year increase is expected in November and December, putting further pressure on the supply chain.
Some experts said that although China and the United States have postponed the tariff increase, according to reports from Reuters, China's exports to the United States increased by 5 % to 10 % in the third quarter from the same period last year, mainly because U.S. retailers wanted to increase their inventory to avoid new taxes. This has put pressure on storage and supply throughout California and on supply chain operations.
Moreover, in recent weeks, additional services have been added to the container routes on the Trans - Pacific Ring Road, which is expected to cause delays in the terminal building and decrease in service reliability. MIQ expects further interruptions and delays in the port in the coming weeks.
Warning: " In the rest of 2018, the carrier added 12 loading ships and 3 super-large ships, which docked at Los Angeles \ Long Beach Port. It is expected that these additional loading vessels will transport an additional 128000teu of cargo in the coming weeks. Many of these ships are docked outside the normal alliance mode, which may lead to incorrect positioning of containers and trailers, thus preventing the trailers from functioning properly.
" According to the forecast, operators think this situation may continue until the beginning of February 2019.
