Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Jan. 16-22
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Jan. 16-22. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.1 from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).2 Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.
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Weekly Estimates for Next Three Weeks on Five Types of Containers; Includes Maps, Tables
Estimates are available for the current week, as well as the subsequent two weeks, for each of the following five types of shipping containers: 20ft dry, 40ft dry, 40ft high-cube (HC), 20ft reefer, and 40ft reefer. The report has tables for each intermodal location showing availability of each type of shipping container from each carrier (carriers are anonymous).
Highlights of the report for the week of Jan. 16-22 include:
Ports: The ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Charleston are expected to have the most available containers among the reported port locations over the next three weeks. However, compared to the previous week their container availability estimates have declined, except for New York. The ports of Houston and New Orleans have bounced back from last week’s large deficit and now have containers available this week.
Inland Locations: Among the reported inland locations, Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, and Columbus are expected to have the most containers available over the next three weeks. Except for Dallas, each of these locations saw increases over the previous week’s estimates.
Equipment: Overall, current week availability for all container types was up (about 3,100 containers) this week with the exception of 20ft refrigerated containers.
- Over the next three weeks, the port of Norfolk shows a sizeable increase in availability of 40ft refrigerated containers.
- During the next three weeks, availability at Seattle and Tacoma is expected to drop for all container types except 20ft refrigerated containers.
- Availability for all equipment types in Minneapolis, Oakland, and Houston is expected to drop over the next three weeks.
- Looking at the next three weeks, overall container availability is expected to increase in Charleston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Memphis, New York, Norfolk, and Savannah.
1The 18 intermodal locations included in the report are Long Beach/Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Memphis, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah.
2These carriers are COSCO, Evergreen, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag Lloyd, Yang Ming Transport Corporation, OOCL, K Line, and Hyundai Merchant Marine.