Kuehne+Nagel's Disruption Indicator shows eased congestion worldwide. The total TEU waiting time at hot spot ports has dropped by 62% over the last year from more than 7,5 million TEU waiting days to around 2.8 million TEU waiting days.

Congestion in North America has essentially cleared as a result of falling volumes and cleared hinterland congestion. On 4 April 2023, the number of TEU waiting days at North American ports was just 496,840, a significant improvement from over 5 million TEU waiting days recorded a year ago. 

This week’s 7-day average waiting time at hot-spot ports such as LA-Long Beach, Charleston, and New York-New Jersey remains under 1.5 days. Delays in Vancouver and Houston have increased in the last week. However, they remain under 2 days. The 7-day average vessel waiting time in Oakland has risen to around 4 days in the last week, possibly due to increased yard congestion at the port.

Despite recent strike actions in Europe, the 7-day average waiting times at North European terminals remain stable within 2 days. Strikes in France have had little impact on vessel waiting times as carriers omit the French ports or provide alternative sailings or routings.

In Asia, the 7-day average waiting time Shanghai-Ningbo and Hong-Kong - Yantian areas is improving steadily from 4-5 days at the beginning of March to around 3 days this week. 

Africa

South Africa

South Africa’s rail operator Transnet reported a loss of 50% of revenue due to outstanding repairs on at least 161 non-operational locomotives. Chinese state-owned CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Company supplied the locomotives but failed to deliver the spare parts. On 28 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa met with the Transnet board and executive team, demanding swift action on the logistics crisis in the country, including the lack of working trains. In response, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan will meet with the Chinese government in China this month to fast-track the delivery of spare parts.

Durban: On 3 April, Transnet announced the opening of the newly constructed Bayhead Bypass Road, which allows for seamless access to the port and reduces truck congestion at Durban Container Terminal. The 1.6 km bypass road is a uni-directional single-carriageway with two lanes towards the Island View Complex and the Durban Container Terminal., said Transnet. The need for the bypass road arose when the main access road to the port was damaged by floods in April last year.

Asia

Bangladesh

According to reports, Bangladesh will open three ports to land-locked Bhutan for trade. This new agreement will limit Bhutan’s dependence on Indian ports to supply essential goods. Bhutan expects transport costs will also be reduced with goods coming through Mongla, Payra and Chittagong.

India

A new customs payment system was rolled out in India on 1 April. However, problems with the latest software have resulted in stranded imports nationwide. Time-sensitive goods such as pharmaceuticals and food are of greatest concern. The Indian Customs Association has reached out to the government for help, who has assured technicians are working to remedy the situation.

Jawaharlal Nehru: Jawaharlal Nehru Port crossed the 6 million TEU mark last month. The port registered a throughput of 6.050,298 TEU for April 2022 to March 2023 financial year. This represents a year-on-year increase of 6.44%. This volume increase, together with refurbishment and dredging taking place at the terminals, has been causing some bottlenecks at the port. Carriers have announced port omission or moved cargo to the next vessel call.

Mundra: According to the port, Mundra is reportedly at 90% capacity, which is resulting in operational inefficiencies and delays. In order to operate reliably, the port said it requires a maximum capacity of 70%. The port has handled an increase in volumes, recording a throughput of 6.64 million TEU for the financial year. The port expects volumes to continue increasing in the coming years. As a result, some terminal operators have announced expansion plans; however, no completion dates have been announced. In addition, congestion in Jawaharlal Nehru is also impacting Mundra, reported the JOC. The news source cited an advisory from Maersk announcing a restriction on the gate-ins of rail containers for exports due to limited capacity on one of its vessel calls.

Malaysia

Tanjung Pelepas: The port wants to increase its handling capacity by 3.5 million TEU over the next five years. The MYR3 billion investment will also involve upgrading terminal facilities comprising automation and digitalisation, amongst others. At the end of the project, the port will be able to handle larger vessels and operations. A berth expansion project is currently underway. This includes a 455-meter-long berth and a 14-hectare container yard. The port says these expansion projects are necessary to position Tanjung Pelepas as a strong regional player. 

Europe

France

French port workers continue slow-down and strike actions this week. Workers have reduced working hours at Le Havre, Marseille and Fos-sur-Mer. On 6 April, work will stop at all three ports when dockworkers strike for 24 hours. Our customer advisory details the working hours for this week.

Netherlands

Rotterdam: APM Terminals and the port of Rotterdam Authority have signed an agreement to expand the Maasvlakte II terminal by approximately 2 million TEU. The port authority has already begun to extend the quay wall by 1,000 meters. This extension will be completed by mid-2024, with the rest operational by 2026. In keeping with the rest of the terminal, the new section of the Maasvlakte will also be fully automated and operate with net-zero emissions. The port authority said the expansion project would meet increasing volumes expected in the coming years. An additional cross-dock and cold storage facility currently under construction will be ready in 2024. These facilities will provide ‘on-dock’ services to Maersk, the terminal’s primary liner customer. 

Turkey

Mesin: The 7-day average vessel waiting time at the port has reached 4 days this week. Maersk has reported that the terminal is heavily congested and nearing full capacity. As a result, it will stop the acceptance of spot bookings to the port until further notice. Cargo destined for the ports damaged in the earthquakes is being diverted to Mersin, adding stress to the operations. According to the Kuehne+Nagel sources, LimakPort Iskederun will begin accepting container vessels next week. In addition, ONE reported it would start calling Limak in mid-June. No further details are available yet.

United Kingdom

Southampton: DP World Southampton broke its all-time move count record after handling more than 9,000 containers on the ONE Trust, which arrived from Pusan. The 86-hour operation involved 9,315 container exchanges, including 5,824 discharges, 3,473 loads and 18 re-stows. This call exceeded the previous terminal record of 8,213 moves set by the MOL Truth two years ago, reported DP World. “We are committed to consolidating Southampton’s position as the most productive port in the UK, turning vessels around faster than any of our competitors, said Steve McCrindle, DP World's Port Operations Director at Southampton.

North America

USA

Houston: The Port of Houston released its February throughput results last week. It saw a 15% year-on-year increase in overall volumes, totalling 313,452 TEU. Although the first two months of 2023 have seen strong volume growth, the port said it began to see a softening import demand. Export volumes remained strong, up 42% in February, driven by substantial volumes of plastic resins and other petrochemical commodities produced in the region.

Long Beach: Long Beach marked the completion of its Pier G Wharf Improvements Project this March. The project included the extension of Berth G236 at the International Transportation Service (ITS) terminal. The terminal can now accommodate vessels of up to 16,000 TEU capacity with added efficiency. New equipment will be delivered in the next five months, including five ship-to-shore cranes and five rubber-tyred gantry cranes. In addition, the terminal has added 2 acres of land to its storage capacity. The port hopes to attract large vessels on transpacific services with this upgrade.

New York/New Jersey: The port reclaimed its position as the busiest in the US in February after losing it to LA-Long Beach in December. Although volumes dropped by 24.8% year-on-year in Houston, the decrease in volume was only 2.4% compared with 2019. The total volume handled by the port in February was 571,177 TEU, of which 288,314 TEU were loaded imports. Loaded imports decreased by 25.2% year-on-year. Compared to its competitor on the west coast, Houston’s drop in volume has been less significant. February volumes in the ports of LA-Long Beach decreased by 43.1% and 31.7%, respectively, compared to last year.

The Port of New York and New Jersey has received a $6 million grant for a new cross-over track for the ports Express Rail facility. The new cross-over track would allow the two tracks at its main facilities to connect directly with the southbound tracks. Currently, these trains must first travel north before crossing to the southbound route. This adds additional hours of delays and transit time. According to the JOC, the Southbound Connector will be completed by 2025. In addition, the port sees the potential of adding up to six daily departures due to improved efficiency.

South America

Brazil

Paranagua: Brazil’s third-largest container terminal has increased the draught by 12-13 meters to accommodate larger vessels and thus more container capacity. The Container Terminal of Paranagua (TCP) has already received the 10,800 TEU APL Yangshan and Hapag Lloyd's 13,312 TEU Rio de Janeiro Express.