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At present, the congestion of container ports is becoming increasingly serious on all continents.

Clarkson’s container port congestion index shows that as of last Thursday, 36.2% of the world’s fleet was stranded in ports, over that of  31.5% from 2016 to 2019 before the epidemic. Clarkson pointed out in his latest weekly report that congestion on the east coast of the United States has recently risen closly to  record levels.

Hapag Lloyd, a German carrier, released its latest operation report on Friday, highlighting the numerous congestion problems faced by carriers and shippers around the world.

Container ports on all continents are seriously congested

Asia: due to the continuous epidemic and seasonal typhoons, major port terminals in China such as Ningbo, Shenzhen and Hong Kong will face the pressure of yard and berth congestion.

It is reported that the storage yard density of other major ports in Asia, Singapore, has reached 80%, while the storage yard density of Busan, the largest port in South Korea, is higher, reaching 85%.

Europe: the beginning of summer holidays, rounds of strikes, the increasing number of covid-19 cases and the influx of ships from Asia have caused congestion in many ports such as Antwerp, Hamburg, Le Havre and Rotterdam.

Latin America: continuous national protests have hindered Ecuador’s port operations, while in the far north, the cyber attack on Costa Rica’s customs system two months ago is still causing trouble, while Mexico is one of the countries most affected by the spread of port congestion. It is reported that the density of storage yards in many ports is as high as 90%, resulting in serious delays.

North America: reports of dock delays have dominated the shipping news headlines throughout the epidemic, and it’s still a problem in July.

East America: the waiting time for berths in New York / New Jersey is more than 19 days, while the waiting time for berths in Savannah is 7 to 10 days, close to a record level.

West America: the two sides failed to reach an agreement on July 1, and the negotiation failed, which cast a shadow on the slowdown and strike of West America wharf. From January to June this year, the import of the United States from Asia increased by 4%, while the import volume through the United States and the West fell by 3%. The proportion of the United States and the West in the total import of the United States also fell to 54% from 58% last year.

Canada: due to the limited availability of the railway, according to Herbert, Vancouver faces “serious delays” with a yard density of 90%. At the same time, the utilization rate of the wharf at Prince Rupert port is as high as 113%. At present, the average stay time of the railway is 17 days. The detention is mainly due to the lack of available rail vehicles.

Statistics analyzed by sea intelligence, headquartered in Copenhagen, showed that as of the end of May, 9.8% of the global fleet could not be used due to supply chain delays, lower than the peak of 13.8% in January and 10.7% in April.

Although the sea freight is still at an incredible high level, the spot freight rate will remain in a downward trend in most time of 2022.