A new round of congestion delays! Singapore Port is blocked, Chittagong Port is blocked, Liverpool Port is blocked, and the stranded goods are auctioned!

A new round of port congestion and delays is coming! Congestion in the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach in North America continues. In addition, the ports of Singapore, Chittagong, and Northwestern England are also blocked!

▍Singapore Port is also blocked! The container ship waits up to 7 days

According to foreign media reports, container ships that plan to berth in Singapore ports are now facing longer waiting times. The berthing time of a 18000TEU container ship has increased from a maximum of 2 days to 5 to 7 days.

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Container ships in the Port of Singapore are getting more and more congested
A Singapore freight forwarder said that the current waiting time for ships is increasing and the port is becoming more and more congested. Since September last year, ships calling at Singapore have not set sail on time.

According to PSA International, this special situation is caused by a combination of many factors, including the surge in demand for goods, and all nodes in the global supply chain (including yards, warehouses, and ports) are congested due to re-blocking. , Lack of available empty containers, etc.

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The business volume of the Port of Singapore has been growing. Statistics show that in January this year, the number of container ships staying in Singapore Port for more than 2 days averaged 46 per day, an increase of about 59% over the same period in 2020. This number peaked in November 2020 at 49 ships, compared with only 17 ships in the same period in 2019.

The congestion in the Port of Singapore has also directly increased the freight from Singapore to North America. According to sources, the freight from Singapore to the east coast of North America (including priority loading surcharges) is about 10,000 to 15,000 US dollars/FEU, which is approximately 6,000 to 8,000 US dollars higher than other major ports in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam.

▍Chittagong is also blocked! Thousand tons of goods worth 450 million taka were auctioned by the port

Although there is still more than a month to go before Ramadan, as more and more goods begin to flow in before Ramadan, importers fail to collect the goods in time. As a result, containers in Chittagong have begun to accumulate and the port has become more congested.

On February 25, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) asked importers to ship the goods away as soon as possible. And warned that the storage fee doubled on the 12th day after the container was unloaded from the ship. But the warning seemed to have no effect. On March 2, CPA decided to adjust the storage fee again from March 8.

The Secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), Omar Faruk, confirmed that the slow delivery of cargo has led to an increase in the number of containers in the port. Since the influx of imported goods into the port in early February, the situation has started to deteriorate. According to data from the CPA Transportation Department, the port received an average of 4,500 TEUs per day from ships during the 14 days ending on February 28. In contrast, the average daily container shipped from the port is only 3,500 TEUs.

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As of March 1, there are about 40,000 TEU containers in the port, which means that its storage yard utilization rate of 49,018 TEU has reached 82%.

In addition, Chittagong Customs will auction about 1,050 tons of unclaimed abandoned goods worth 450 million taka on Sunday. The auction will deal with about 50 batches of goods, including 180 motor vehicles powered by natural gas, 150 tons of clothing fabrics, 300 tons of steel products and 130 tons of chemicals. Furniture, plastic products, hand sanitizer, fish and other foods are also included in the list.

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Under normal circumstances, importing companies will give up picking up the goods due to the decline in the price of the goods in the local market, the failure to submit the original documents supporting the shipment, the failure to obtain customs clearance, and the refusal to pay abnormal fines.

▍Congestion in British ports spreads northward, shippers and freight forwarders express dissatisfaction with Liverpool

In December last year, due to severe congestion at the port of Felixstowe, the shipping company diverted to Liverpool, which put considerable pressure on Liverpool’s land operations. However, British container ports continue to suffer from congestion, and Liverpool has become the latest port to criticize shippers and freight forwarders.

Freight forwarders serving Peel Ports recently stated that since January, they have been convening emergency meetings with management to resolve the long-term delays at the T1 and T2 terminals. They claim that things at the T1 and T2 terminals have reached a "boiling point."

A freight forwarder said: “Trying to get containers from the port is simply a nightmare,” he added. He added that trying to get a trailer VBS appointment and enduring long delays in getting the boxes are “destructing the soul”. Customers are angry about the uncollectible containers and demurrage.

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Another freight forwarder said that after a serious delay at the T1 terminal, a driver was forced to call the port police to sign his express ticket and try to remove a box that caused him to exceed working hours-a dilemma that drivers often face.

"If he backs down, he may lose his job, and it is impossible to try to get another VBS the next day."

A shipper stated that the delay has begun to have an impact on his business, and he has a considerable number of containers passing through the port.

"We have encountered significant delays in shipping boxes to specific areas. Most importantly, the shipping company is asking us for rent and demurrage, which is simply worsening." He added that he had recently lost several vehicles. trailer.

However, David Huck, managing director of Peel Ports, assured customers that the company will return the port's productivity to normal levels this week.

"Due to the peak demand for vessels at the T1 terminal, we are currently temporarily extending the waiting time for trucks."

"These temporary delays are being handled seriously. We will work around the clock to minimize the impact and resume our normal operations as soon as possible within the next 48 hours. The T2 terminal is operating as usual without any delays.

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Since the opening of Liverpool2’s £400 million container terminal in 2016, its capacity has doubled and Peel Ports has attracted an impressive number of new businesses.

In addition, during the well-documented VBS congestion problem at the Port of Felixstowe last year, Liverpool received the transferred cargo and announced in December that it had received a call on the 2M Alliance TA2/NEUATL2 Transatlantic Loop.

David Huck said that last month Containerships, an internal European container shipping company, opened a new weekly service to Liverpool. The port’s goal is to increase its share of the UK container market by 15% to 20% by 2025.