Transpacific Shipping Container Availability Report for Feb. 13-19
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Feb. 13-19. 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. 13-19 include:
Ports: The ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, and Savannah are expected to have the most available containers among the reported port locations over the next three weeks. Container availability estimates in Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York have decreased from the previous week, but estimates for Norfolk and Savannah increased. Over the next three weeks, availability is expected to increase in Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York for all container types, but 40ft dry and refrigerated containers in Norfolk and for 40ft dry containers in Savannah are expected to decrease.
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. Availability in Chicago, Dallas, and Memphis increased this week, but fell in Columbus. Over the next three weeks, significant increases in 40ft dry containers are expected in Chicago, Columbus, and Memphis.
Equipment: Overall, availability for all container types combined was down more than 1,800 containers this week from the previous week.
- Half of the reported locations saw decreases while the other half experienced increases this week
- Container availability decreased this week for each container type except 40ft highcubes (see table below). Refrigerated containers experienced the largest decrease particularly in Los Angeles/Long Beach, New York, Norfolk, Seattle, Oakland, and Houston.
1The 18 intermodal locations included in the report are Charleston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Long Beach/Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oakland, Savannah, Seattle and Tacoma.
2These carriers are COSCO, Evergreen, Hanjin Shipping, Hapag Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, K Line, OOCL, and Yang Ming Transportation Corp.