Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Oct. 31 - Nov. 6

November 1, 2012 by Brian Feito|Exports

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 6. 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 3 Weeks on 5 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 Oct. 31 - Nov. 6 include:

Though vessel traffic and cargo operations through the Port of New York and New Jersey remain suspended in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, carriers were still able to estimate container availability at the port. Other reported East Coast ports—Charleston, Savannah, and Norfolk—are open and operational allowing vessel traffic and cargo operations. Carriers expect container availability to increase over the next 3 weeks at these locations with the exception of 40 reefers in Norfolk and Charleston and a slight decrease in 40ft dry containers in Savannah.
Over the next 3 weeks, 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. Availability for most equipment types is expected to increase except for a small decline in 40ft high-cube containers in Los Angeles/Long Beach, 40ft reefers in Norfolk, and 40ft dry containers in Savannah.
Among the reported inland locations, Chicago, Dallas, and Memphis are expected to have the most containers available over the next 3 weeks. Availability is estimated to increase each week for all container types except for 20ft refrigerated equipment in Chicago and 20ft dry containers in Memphis.
Carriers are expecting significant increases in dry equipment over the next 3 weeks in Cincinnati, Columbus, Charleston, Dallas, Denver, and New York. Continued increases in container availability at inland locations provide a strong pool of equipment of containerized grain exporters.
Over the next 3 weeks, most locations show an increase in overall container availability with the exception of New Orleans, Tacoma, and Oakland. Refrigerated equipment in Seattle and Minneapolis is expected to be in deficit.

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.