The Transpacific trade was on the headlines in September as strong demand caused capacity shortages and soaring freight rates. In August, the four U.S. West Coast ports included in the Monthly Container Port Monitor (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Tacoma/Seattle and Oakland) handled 2.19 million TEU – as much as during the summer peak 2018.
Latest figures indicate that demand is slightly cooling down. Due to seasonal factors, handling can be expected to slow down further in autumn. At the same time, liner operators increased capacity again so the situation should turn in favour of shippers. In Chinese ports, by contrast, figures are still on the rise. September marked a new record with 17.74 MTEU handled – slightly above the record in July (17.48 MTEU) and more than 9 % up from 2019.
https://www.isl.org/en/news/transpacific-boom-slows
2020/11/10 10:17:40