April 2023 International Market Update
AN UPDATE FROM SUNSET’S INTERNATIONAL TEAM:
The following information from Sunset’s International team details the current International market conditions. Customer communication is vital with the instability of international trade.
Sunset is here to help with the most basic or complex shipments. Email [email protected] to speak further about how to manage any International needs that arise.
Ocean Industry
Current constraints
- TRANSPACIFIC EAST BOUND (TPEB)
- East Coast: Dwell times remain lower, with an average of 0-2 days.
- Savannah: Waiting time for vessel berth at the terminal is up to 2 days, depending on vessel size.
- New York: 1-day waiting time expected for berth at Global Container Terminals Bayonne, Maher Terminals LLC and APM Terminals.
- Port of Los Angeles: Dwell times for local import cargo is 3 days, and on-dock rail dwell is 3.6 days.
- There is no vessel berthing delays in Tacoma. However, in case of delays at departure ports overseas, delays of up to 2 days are expected.
- Prince Rupert is now only experiencing 1-day vessel wait times with rail dwell below 4 days.
- In Vancouver, vessel wait times have dropped to just 3 days, down from 10 days in early March. Rail continues to be challenging, with the average departed rail dwell sitting at seven days.
- TRANSPACIFIC WEST BOUND (TPWB)
- No expected changes in overall trade capacity going into Q2.
- Space is available across all major services, with carriers looking for volume.
- Specific lanes are seeing some slight downward rate pressure as carriers attempt to entice volume onto these services.
- Dry equipment supply is ample throughout. However, chassis availability may be low at some IPI locations.
- TRANSATLANTIC EAST BOUND (TAEB)
- U.S. West and Gulf Coast services continue to see solid utilizations.
- Capacity continues to be available from the U.S. East Coast.
- Rates remain stable after some downward adjustments on U.S. East Coast rates in late Q4/early Q1.
- Service capacity is expected to remain unchanged going into Q2.
- Dry equipment is readily available across most markets, but chassis availability still needs to be improved in some inland locations.
- US International Trade in Goods and Services, February 2023
- February 2023: -$70.5B
- January 2023: +$68.3B
The trade deficit in the US increased to $70.5B in February of 2023, the highest in four months and slightly above forecasts of $69B. It reflects an increase in the goods deficit of $2.7B to $93B and an increase in the services surplus of $0.8B to $22.4B.
Stability: Instability will continue into Q3 2023. Although we are beginning to see a slight increase in volumes, we can expect volume levels to be similar to pre-pandemic 2019.
- March imports increased 6.9% from February, but TEU levels are still down 27.5% YoY, but only 4.2% lower than pre-pandemic March 2019.
- Descartes reported that slightly above 1.85 M TEU’s were imported in January.
- Global Schedule Reliability increased 7.7% from January to February at 60.2%.
Future Lookouts:
- Weekly analysis : 07 April 2023
- Across the major East-West head haul trades: Transpacific, Transatlantic and Asia-North Europe & Med, 51 cancelled sailings have been announced between weeks 15 (10 April-16 April) and week 19 (8 May – 14 May), out of a total of 675 scheduled sailings, representing an 8% cancellation rate.
- During this period, 51% of the blank sailings will be occurring in the Transpacific Eastbound, 45% on Asia-North Europe and Med, and 4% on the Transatlantic Westbound trade.
- Across the major East-West head haul trades: Transpacific, Transatlantic and Asia-North Europe & Med, 51 cancelled sailings have been announced between weeks 15 (10 April-16 April) and week 19 (8 May – 14 May), out of a total of 675 scheduled sailings, representing an 8% cancellation rate.
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