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USA:: Port congestion raises shipping surcharges |
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2004-11-10
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Ports at Long Beach and Los Angles require at least one week to unload a ship, which has prompted seven shipping lines to announce they will start charging a congestion surcharge fee on cargo destined for those ports until the situation improves.
The delays, which are four to five days longer than normal, are costing shipping lines as much as $60,000 a day as ships sit idle beyond the breakwater waiting for a vacant spot.
So the Trans Atlantic Conference Agreement (TACA)— a British-based group that represents such shipping lines as A.P. Moller–Maersk Sealand, P&O Nedlloyd Ltd. and Hapag-Lloyd Container Linie GmbH— announced that on Nov. 15, its lines would impose a congestion surcharge on goods being shipped to Long Beach and Los Angeles. The congestion surcharge does not apply to other U.S. ports.
Right now the surcharge, which is $200 per TEU (20-foot container) and $400 per FEU (40-foot container), applies only to vessels sailing from Northern Europe to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal.
The TSA’s members include American President Lines Ltd., Orient Overseas Container Lines Inc., COSCO Container Lines Ltd. and Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd.— some of the major apparel shippers from Asia to Los Angeles.
On Oct. 1, the TSA added a fuel surcharge to ship goods from Asia to the United States. In effect until the end of the year, the surcharge is $205 per TEU and $275 per FEU.
The new layer of surcharges may be an indication of what is in store for apparel importers next year when quotas disappear on most clothing items.
Already, predictions are that cargo space aboard ships will be tough to come by in January, when many goods start making their way across the ocean from China.
With shortages of longshore workers plaguing the two Southern California ports during the last four months, cargo cannot be unloaded as quickly as it arrives.
Also, because port and inland congestion in the United States and Asia has gotten worse and there are more delays through the Panama Canal, transpacific shipping rates will be going up 10 percent to 11 percent on May 1, 2005.
All this adds another layer of frustration in getting goods from Asia.
On Nov. 3, there were 33 vessels anchored beyond the breakwater near the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports waiting to dock and dispatch their cargo. Another 37 were docked at the complex. Normally, there are only four ships waiting for berths.
While 3,000 casual workers are expected to be trained and working by December to add to the 10,000 longshore workers already at the ports, that may not be enough.
Target Corp. opened a 1.7 million-square-foot distribution center in Shafter last year, said Brent Green, business development director for Shafter. Ikea International A/S, Sears Roebuck and Co., and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also have distribution centers in the surrounding towns. “With this, I would hope we would increase and get more business,” said Felicia Cousar, the maritime marketing manager for the Port of Oakland, where congestion problems have not been a problem this Holiday season. |
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