Up to 59% of the total US container exports are empty

Up to 59% of the total US container exports are empty

Covid-19 has really thrown the global supply chain into disarray. After a few months, as the global economy reopens, the shipping industry is seeing a lot of problems, especially port congestion, rising freight rates and lack of container ships.

What is surprising, however, is that recent empty containers are causing difficulties for US exports. Congestion with large numbers of container ships lined up at major US ports can give us a different picture.

To clarify, ships that ship to ports in the US are brimming with imported goods. In contrast, US exports, including agricultural products, cannot be disrupted in international markets and demand. This has created an imbalance in container usage, and has been proven true by MarketWatch Data. According to the data, 12.1 million empty containers were exported from the US as of the end of October 2021, an increase of 46.2% compared to 2020 and 37.8% compared to 2019.

A whopping 59% of containers left US ports without cargo in the first 10 months of the year. Moreover, the increased demand for goods imported into the US has pushed up freight rates on the Pacific ocean route from Asia to the US, making this route much more profitable than the reverse route US - Asia. The opportunity to make better money prompts shipping lines and shipowners to quickly ship empty containers to Asia and back with ships loaded with cargo on the 'diamond route", surfing the waves of 'Richie-rich' of the Asia-US route.

In addition, the frequent cancellation of many export sailings also increases freight rates. The worrying case is US meat exports. This is an important commodity for US exports, but congestion at major US ports also severely affects this export. The US Meat Export Federation can only find cost-effective alternatives to this problem. A possible solution for perfect meat export is still waiting.

For these reasons, the US trade deficit reached an all-time high in 2021, reaching $705.2 billion in the first 10 months of the year, up 29.7 percent year-on-year.

Read more:

• The number of container blank sailings on the Asia - US West Coast service is up to 28%
• Warning about soaring container dwell time for exports at many ports around the world
• Los Angeles / Long beach ports postpone the “container dwell fee” for another week
• New record: 81 container ships waiting outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
• Global supply chain disruption expected through 2022
• When will supply chain disruptions and exorbitant freight rates end?

Source: Phaata.com (According to Containernews)

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