Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Feb. 6-12
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Feb. 6-12. 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 Feb. 6-12 include:
Ports: The ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Oakland are expected to have the most available containers among the reported port locations over the next three weeks. Container availability estimates have decreased from the previous week for each of these port locations. Over the next three weeks, availability is expected to increase for all container types in New York, all but 40ft high-cube containers in Los Angeles/Long Beach, and all dry container types in Norfolk. Availability in Oakland is expected to fall.
Inland Locations: Among the reported inland locations, Dallas, Chicago, Memphis, and Columbus are expected to have the most containers available over the next three weeks. Dallas and Columbus saw increases over the previous week and availability in Chicago and Memphis fell. Availability in Dallas surpassed Chicago this week with significant increases for all container types in Dallas and decreases for all container types in Chicago.
Equipment: Overall, availability for all container types combined was down more than 6,300 containers this week over the previous week.
- Container availability continues to fall each week; only six of the reported locations saw an increase in availability over the previous week. Some of the largest decreases were in Kansas City, Charleston, and Savannah.
- Availability in Houston and Tacoma increased this week over the previous week, though both locations are expected to be in a deficit status over the next three weeks, particularly for 40ft highcube containers in Tacoma and 40ft dry containers in Houston.
- Overall, availability for 40ft high-cube containers is the highest this week of the five container types reported. Each container type saw a decrease in availability this week over the previous week, which can be expected this time of year.
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.