The impact of the diminished freight container traffic to North America will be significant for many links in the economy and supply chain, including the ports and logistics companies moving the freight. If each sailing was carrying 8,000 to 10,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), that would equal a decline in freight traffic of between 640,000-800,000 containers, and lead to decreased crane operations at the ports, lower fees that could be collected, and declines in container pick-ups and transports by trucks, rails, and to warehouses for storage.
The World Trade Organization warned on Wednesday that the outlook for global trade has "deteriorated sharply" in the wake of Trump's tariffs plan. JB Hunt shares hit their lowest level since November 2020 after commentary during the trucking company's earnings call about the uncertainty from tariffs.
…
Booking volumes from the last week of March to first week of April across global and U.S. trade lanes plummeted. There were sharp decreases in bookings across several categories, including apparel & accessories; and wool, fabrics & textiles, both down over 50%. Major product categories from China that are moved in containers include apparel, toys, furniture, and sports equipment, all of which are subject to steep tariffs.
…
As a result of the decrease in containers, ocean carriers will not only cancel vessels, but also adjust or cancel vessel routes commonly called "vessel strings," such as the ONE service from China to Vancouver and Tacoma. These routes dedicating vessels to move the ocean freight at specific ports take months of planning. The elimination of vessels also impacts U.S. exports bound for Asia and relying on ships traveling in both directions.
Ocean carriers need to move full vessels to generate a return on investment, but it is not in their best interest to use large vessels if they cannot be filled. To ensure vessels are used at full capacity, carriers have a number of ways to alter the vessel strings. Stretching out ship arrivals by canceling sailings is an option for container volume to better match capacity. According to Murphy, 99% of vessel services are weekly and it takes a vessel approximately seven weeks to make a round trip.
…
The global supply chain demand and pricing situation remains fluid and subject to sharp short-term swings tied to tariffs policy. As Chinese trade comes under strain, a key metric in ocean freight rates shows Vietnam surging in early April.
The "mid-low" ocean rates, which represent the costs of shipping goods for a larger-sized shipper on a particular ocean route, have jumped by 43% since March 30 for Vietnam. Xeneta calculates the market mid-low and market mid-high segments by looking at the values of the 25 and 75 percentiles of a trade lane rate.
From the article:
…
…
…