Poorly packaged containers, coupled with the shipper’s misunderstanding of the dangers of certain non-dangerous goods, may cause more than $6 billion in losses to the supply chain each year.
The well-known freight and transportation insurance company TT Club stated that “analysis consistently shows that two-thirds of accidents related to cargo damage are caused or exacerbated by bad practices when packing cargo into containers.”
And explained: "This misconduct in the supply chain has caused millions of dollars in losses, including the death of seafarers and major delays caused by container ship fires. Based on known data, all such incidents are estimated to cause economic losses of more than 6 billion US dollars each year. ."
TT Club Loss Prevention Manager Michael Yarwood added: “The danger is not limited to chemical cargoes such as paints, cosmetics, cleaning products, fertilizers, herbicides and aerosols.
"A wide variety of consumer products and parts used in the manufacture of industrial products, household white goods and automobiles, if handled improperly during transportation, could cause major disasters."
"The list is long, and often surprising-barbecue charcoal, battery-powered electronics, fireworks, hand sanitizer, wool, cotton, plant fibers, marble, granite and other building materials, fish meal, seed cakes, etc."
He said: "Enterprises involved in purchasing, importing, storing, supplying or selling such goods should ensure that their procurement and logistics standards reach the highest level."
He urged shippers to refer to the "Code of Practice for Cargo Transport Unit Packaging" ("CTU Code") jointly published by the International Maritime Organization, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Economic Commission, which is the industry's closest regulation on container packaging.
Mr. Yarwood said: “It provides comprehensive information on all aspects of packaging and securing goods in freight containers and other modes of transportation under sea and land transportation. It can not only guide the personnel responsible for packaging and securing the goods, but also guide the collection Cargo and unpacking personnel."
He added: "This also solves the crucial issue of correctly describing and declaring goods, including any specific information about the handling of dangerous goods."
He said: "In addition to the serious health and safety risks already described above, poorly packaged containers may also cause damage to adjacent cargo in the event of an accident and cause significant consequences to the shipper."
Last week we looked at the question, “Can anyone be a freight forwarder?”
how to choose a freight forwarder Hariesh commented on our blog, as well as mentioning in his own, that “any Tom, Dick, or Harry can call themselves a Freight Forwarder.”
Of course, you don’t want any Tom, Dick, or Harry handling your imports and exports. It’s important your freight forwarder knows how to handle your international shipping.
With all the freight forwarders that are out there, and the surprising ease to call yourself a freight forwarder, how do you go about choosing a freight forwarder whom you can be confident in?
Well, today’s blog covers just that. Here are 5 tips on how to choose a freight forwarder.
1. MAKE SURE THE FREIGHT FORWARDER HAS EXPERIENCE.
This could almost be the whole list. Experience, experience, experience.
It might be fairly easy to start a freight forwarding company, but the international shipping industry is not the easiest business sector in the world and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you won’t last long.
During TJ China Freight’s 27+ years as a freight forwarder, we’ve seen many, many company’s come and go.
Years of experience means your freight forwarder has dealt with different situations like dockworker strikes and port shutdowns, needs for rerouting cargo, smoothing out customs or warehousing issues, and so on.
Experience usually means your freight forwarder will help you avoid customs, warehousing, and routing problems before they even start so your international shipping will go smoothly.
Experience also gives time for a company to form and cultivate business relations around the world from which you will benefit. Which brings us to…
2. ASK ABOUT THE FREIGHT FORWARDER’S NETWORK OF AGENTS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS IN THE COUNTRY YOU’RE EXPORTING TO OR IMPORTING FROM.
This is obviously important for the local handling of your international shipments.
Your freight forwarder should have a strong network around the world, but you need to know that they have the connections in the countries/cities of origin and destination for your imports and exports.
If you’re exporting and importing to and from Germany, it doesn’t matter how good the freight forwarder’s connections are in China.
TJ China Freight has a very large network and ships to and from almost anywhere in the world; however, you may have noticed a key word in there: almost. There are a few places in the world TJ China Freight does not ship to or from.
You may have found a freight forwarder who is great for shipping to the Philippines, but don’t have the connections or experience to do a great job handling your imports from China. So make sure you ask about your freight forwarder’s connections and experience in the specific locations you need.
Business partnerships around the world also allow your freight forwarder to offer additional services, which brings us to…
3. MAKE SURE THE FREIGHT FORWARDER OFFERS THE SERVICES YOU NEED FOR YOUR SHIPMENT.
Look at the services the freight forwarder offers.
A freight forwarder should be able to handle more than just the air shipping or ocean shipping part of your import or export. They should also be able to handle the rail and/or trucking portion of your international shipping.
I guess if you only need port to port services instead of door to door shipping, you wouldn’t find it a big deal whether or not the freight forwarder offers this service; however, if they do not have a trucking option, that says something about the freight forwarder’s network.
However, there are more services you may want from your freight forwarder. For example, TJ China Freight partnered with TOLL to offer Supply Chain Value Added Services. This means we can help you with things like warehousing, distribution, etc.
Of course, cargo insurance better be among their services and shipment tracking is nice to have if only for your peace of mind.
4. MAKE SURE THE FREIGHT FORWARDER HAS GOOD REFERENCES.
This is good advice when you’re looking for any kind of service, not just freight forwarding.
If there’s no one willing to say a freight forwarder did a great job taking care of their imports and exports, that’s a big red flag.
5. MAKE SURE THE FREIGHT FORWARDER HAS GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.
This is hugely important.
How fast does the freight forwarder get back to you on your freight rate request or on answering your questions?
If you’re new to international shipping, are they able and willing to walk you through what you need to know and do to make sure all goes well with your imports and exports?
Your sales person at a freight forwarding company may not have all the answers to your questions as they might be new to the company or even the industry, but they should be able to get the answers for you from the experienced team they’re working with.
How good your freight forwarder is at taking care of your individual needs speaks a great deal about their ability to give the needed attention to your shipments.
Notice, I didn’t even put freight rates in this list as much more important is your freight forwarder’s ability to take care of your shipping needs professionally and precisely.
One freight forwarder may offer shipping rates well below the rest of the competition, but you’ll usually find yourself paying for choosing them in additional costs, delays, and very poor customer service.
But if you follow the five tips above, you should find a freight forwarder who has the contracts and network which allow them to offer competitive rates.
As we all know, the tariffs of South American countries are very high, and customs clearance is difficult. Brazil is a country of South America, and one of the hardest to do so. Today, I'll follow the search network for the Brazil customs clearance.
Brazil is a developing country. In order to protect its industrial production, it has adopted a tax protection policy on foreign imports in terms of imports. Brazil customs is a few countries to check the strict international parcel inspection, for they rate as high as one hundred percent, does not meet the requirements for shipment of goods or the customs will return the goods will be shipped, and shipped back to have a cost.
The main reason for the goods being imported by the Brazil customs is that the correct document information can not be provided during the customs clearance, and the timely homework can greatly reduce the possibility that the goods will be detained by the Brazil customs office so as to smooth customs clearance.
What are the requirements for customs clearance in Brazil?
The common customs clearance documents used in Brazil are bills of lading, invoices, boxes, fumigation certificates, power of attorney (both in Portuguese and English versions). NCM encoding and imported party bill of lading must be marked on the goods CNPJ number, NCM encoding HS encoding similar to the international general, to classify and tax on the product, CNPJ, is similar to the registration number, to determine the importer's identity and qualification. In addition to the invoice indicating the consignor, name, weight, volume, value, contract number, departure, destination and other basic information, but also need to indicate the product price, and address of the manufacturer. The International Plant Protection Convention as "" (International Plant Protection Convention, referred to as IPPC) signatory, Brazil in June 1, 2005 since the implementation of "international trade in wood packing material management standards" (ISPM15), for wood packing material requirements after fumigation / disinfection treatment and affix the IPPC logo.
Brazil customs special bill of lading requirements:
At the customs of the Brazil, all non - individual goods (missing or incorrect documents) will be deemed to be smuggled immediately after unloading and will be seized by the customs and fined. At the same time, the customs of the Brazil has the following special requirements for the original bill of lading:
1) the consignee shall not be "TO ORDER"".
If the bill of lading the consignee (Consignee) as "TO ORDER", the goods will be detained by customs, submit to the Brazil customs system until the consignee details (including complete address, telephone, fax number CPNJ enterprises, etc. and contact etc.), the customs will allow the delivery.
2) the Brazil customs does not accept the description of the general cargo. Such as: Department, good, merchandise, Chemical, Dry, cargo and so on.
3) must be labeled with the consignee (Consignee) enterprise tariff CPNJ goods, Brazil commercial customs NCM code encoding. If Notify and Consignee are different, also must identify its corporate tax CNPJ. In addition, the bill of lading must indicate the volume of the goods (per cubic meter).
4) the freight must be marked in figures and words at the same time on the bill of lading.
Brazil customs - Documentation / equipment inspection
For different channels of goods, the customs will take different means of inspection, in accordance with past experience, most Chinese products will be classified as yellow or red channel, rarely included in the green channel. For the goods of the Yellow channel, the customs will focus on the inspection of customs documents, evaluate the information of the value of the goods, the quantity of goods and the classification of the goods, and release them in the case of the audit. For the red channel of the goods, the situation is more complicated, first by the customs officer of customs documents for review, and then assigned to the port customs inspection personnel on-site inspection, if still unable to obtain the accurate judgment, should be combined with the third party inspection engineer jointly issued by the official inspection and report. From the beginning of the inspection to the issue of a report often takes weeks, this link is the entire customs clearance process in a longer period of time, but also the most difficult to grasp the link.
Brazil customs clearance procedures cumbersome
According to the world economic forum released the "2014-2015" in the global competitiveness report, ranked 144 countries (or regions), in the Brazil customs efficiency ranked 138, so the export of goods to Brazil for a long time, need to have patience.
There are three main tariff rates for imported goods in Brazil:
1 federal taxes
A. import duties. According to different commodities, the import tax rate is different. The average tax rate is now 17%. General raw material tax rate is very low or zero; consumer goods in general is about 20-30%.
B. industrial product tax. The average tax rate is 10%, which is a progressive tax, and is calculated at the price of CIF plus the total value of the import duty.
2. State taxes
C. commodity circulation service tax, which is equivalent to VAT, is a progressive tax, and is calculated at the CIF price plus the import duty, the processing industry, and the total value of the product tax. There are two tax rates, 17% and 18%, 18% in St Paul and 17% in all other states (both of which refer to transactions within the state) Depends on the state of the importer.
Brazil customs is not generally high, in addition to import tariffs and other mixed taxes, customs clearance to pay tips. Moreover, many products in Brazil have anti-dumping duties, and if Chinese goods are exported to Brazil at a high tariff, entrepot trade may be considered.
What products does China levy against the tax on Brazil?
Brazil Chinese of automotive glass, safety glass refrigeration appliances, agricultural tires, truck tires, bicycle tires, motorcycle tires frameless glass mirror, ball pen, coil, ring magnet, plastic vacuum tubes, seamless steel pipe, PVC resin, ceramic filter, two oxygen
Mozambique is a country in southern Africa. At present, there is no direct flight between China and Mozambique, and Chinese citizens can transfer to Mozambique via South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and qatar. The Bole International Airport air traffic hub in Africa, many African countries went to other passengers in transit.
Ten city of Mozambique, Nampula, Maputo, Bella, Peng Ba Whelan, Kulusi Tete, Inhambane, Chris Mane, etc., Chimoio Lichinga airport. Which Maputo is the capital of Mozambique, located at the southern tip of Mozambique, near the India Yanmar Maputo Bay, is not political, economic and cultural center, the country's largest city. Maputo port is one of the major ports in East africa.
Maputo International Airport (IATA Code: MPM; ICAO Code: FQMA) is a civil airport 3 kilometers northwest of Mozambique, capital of the Republic of Maputo. Main international, regional and international demand of passenger and freight transport business, many waypoints to the main city of African countries and region, and the Portuguese airline to fly to Lisbon flights, Qatar Airlines operating flights to Doha.
Chinese cargo flights to Mozambique Maputo many, Qatar Airways, Ethiopia airlines, Turkey airlines, South African Airways have flights to Guangzhou, Hongkong, Shanghai, from the start, Beijing, aged 5-7 days. Hongkong to Maputo air freight about RMB40/1000KG+, the volume of goods is not recommended to go, suitable for the value of high, aging requirements of high goods.
Cargo price usually by air freight, fuel surcharge, war of three parts, logistics Baba cargo price is mainly composed of air freight charges, documentation fees, operating fees, manifest pre recorded fees, fuel surcharges. Customers can also add custom declaration, insurance and other value-added activities according to their requirements.
Air freight forwarding is the general freight forwarding to the airport, the customer needs to go to the airport, their own customs clearance and delivery, if the need for customs clearance, the cost is relatively high.
Exports to Mozambique ordinary no special requirements, but the foreign customs tax is serious. The raw material tariff is 2.5%, the fixed assets (class K), the tariff 5%, the tariff for the assembled goods is 7.5%, and the consumer goods is 20%. Customs clearance requirements, packing list, invoice, bill of lading, PSI inspection, certificate of origin, etc.. The government has stopped exporting pornographic and pornographic books and periodicals, film and television, posing as commodities, pirated goods and goods of false origin.
Search air network Maputo air transport, low-cost transit, can receive general cargo, bulk cargo, wooden boxes need to be hit. Airline one to one follow-up, cargo tracking, higher security. From China's air transport export to Mozambique, according to customer requirements, layout, door-to-door, and delivery of the destination.
If shippers and logistics companies hope that the ultra-high shipping container prices will fall in the New Year, then they may be disappointed.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, revealed at a press conference that global logistics giants and container liner companies expect that the chaotic market, lack of berths, and container shortages, etc., will still be available by 2021. Will last for a while.
In addition, Tim Scharwath, CEO of freight forwarding giant DHL Global Freight Forwarding, also attended the meeting. What the two CEOs have in common is that they agree that 2020 is characterized by great unpredictability, such as promising customers whether their goods will reach their destinations on time, which is very unpredictable.
As time goes by and the year is coming to an end, shippers have to pay more and more freight to ship the goods. This development is largely due to the sharp increase in demand month by month since July. For example, it is not uncommon to have to pay US$5,000 for shipping containers from Hong Kong to New York.
▍It will not stabilize until the second half of 2021
The two executives agreed that after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia this spring, the very special environment has caused a historic imbalance between supply and demand. They also believe that the shipping market will not stabilize for the time being.
Scharwath said: "As for shipping, I think we must enter the second half of 2021 before we see the market stabilize again. The first quarter will definitely be affected, and so will the second quarter."
"We will have to wait and see what happens, because everything is difficult to predict. As a large company, we usually make plans for 3 to 5 years. Now, we are making plans for 3 months."
Inadequate ship capacity and insufficient containers have serious consequences for the industry’s supply chain. In addition to customer dishonesty and record high freight rates, a recent survey conducted by Sea-Intelligence shows that only half of the ships can reach their destinations on time .
▍Shipping companies strengthen management and control
Mainly affected by the new crown epidemic, container shipping companies’ performance in the second quarter was weak, but their profits have soared to record levels since the summer. However, the quality of service is lacking, and container shipping companies have been stating for months that these conditions are beyond the scope that they can change.
On the one hand, they do not have more ships to deploy, on the other hand, they cannot redistribute the containers to the required ports. In addition to other reasons, customers do not return the goods.
Currently, Asia in particular is suffering from a shortage of containers because many containers are in the United States. According to a Bloomberg report, it may also be because of port congestion that these containers cannot be unloaded at US ports. This is the case with 20 container ships currently near the Port of Long Beach.
Therefore, at the beginning of December, CMA CGM, Maersk and ONE had to refuse to leave the booking outside of Asia, the reason is very simple, because there is no extra space on board.
Hapag-Lloyd, led by Habben Jansen, also benefited from the increase in freight rates in recent months. Therefore, the shipping company has twice raised its full-year 2020 profit forecast, and the company currently expects its operating results to exceed US$2.7 billion.
However, the CEO said that it is usually because of an oversupply of ships, and 10 years after the industry has lost billions of dollars, it is time for container shipping companies to start making money.
▍Strong performance in the second quarter of next year
Until recently, shipping companies and container manufacturers also predicted that the current shortage of containers will be resolved after the Chinese New Year in February, which will restore the market to a more normal state. But Habben Jansen no longer believes this prediction is correct.
"This year’s development is beyond everyone’s expectations. Because of the introduction of economic stimulus measures, people still have money on hand, and most of the money has been spent on container cargo. Many signs indicate that the strong market we see after the Spring Festival has passed. It will appear and will continue into the second quarter."
Habben Jansen pointed out that the current market congestion will take some time to resolve.
Price is only an indicator in the process of purchasing a product or service . If you simply compare prices, it is not so thoughtful. Price, quality, service, word of mouth, suitability for your own situation, etc. all need to be considered together.
General cargo aircraft air valence is usually divided into M, N, Q stage, wherein the stage is divided into Q + 45, + 100, + 300, + 500, + 1000, such as different levels - greater the weight, the rate cheaper . M stands for MinimumCharge. The lowest freight is also called the minimum freight. It is the lowest freight that airlines can accept for handling a batch of goods. N means NormalRate, which generally refers to a price less than 45KGS. To apply this freight rate, two conditions must be met at the same time: 1) It must be under 45 kg; 2) It must be ordinary goods-if the specified commodity freight rate is applicable, or the applicable grade The freight rate is not applicable to this freight rate, so N will also be marked as -45KGS. Q means QuantityRate. Q freight rate is the most common in actual shipments. Generally, air freight is mostly higher than 45 kg. If it is lower than 45 kg, general express is fine. Customs clearance is quick to return to the door and the speed is also Not bad.
Freight ForwardingHow does the company count as international Air freight? What constitutes air freight
Air freight rate composition:
1. Airfreight freight (charged by airlines)
2. Fuel surcharge (according to the airport, the price of the destination point is different, Hong Kong now generally the first 4 yuan, before 3.6, last year the highest 4.8, the price is adjusted by the airport, generally 2 yuan to Asia)
4. Airport operation fee (HKD283/ticket for Hong Kong, the airport is responsible for transporting goods on the plane, etc.)
5. Terminal fee: 1.72/kg When the goods are handed over to the dealer, the dealer is responsible for the boarding and other things, which will eventually be collected by the airport)
6. Air master bill fee: HKD15/bl is the bill of lading fee-proof of title.
The above is the " How does a freight forwarding company calculate international air freight? " compiled by the editor of Taijie International Logistics . What is the air freight rate? The detailed content, I hope it can be helpful to everyone. Now it is during the peak season of National Day. If you want to ship by air, you need to make an appointment in advance, and your goods can be shipped by air if they are more than 45 kg. Delivery from different places will also affect the calculation of air freight costs, but generally there will not be too much difference. You can consult several freight forwarding companies in Shenzhen to find out.
Ocean freight has been very developed in the 21st century. How to choose the container used in freight transportation ? The following editor will analyze it.
The emergence of containers is for the safety of the container and the ship, but before packing, it is necessary to know the volume, nature, type, and shape of the goods to choose a suitable container. Of course, some goods cannot be transported, and also The cargo will be damaged due to the wrong container.
As for how to choose the right container for the goods, let's talk about them one by one below.
How to choose the container used in sea freight ?
You can choose sundries containers for valuables and cleaning items; ventilated containers for perishables and dirty goods; refrigerated containers for refrigerated and dangerous goods; livestock (animal) containers for animals and plants; platform containers for bulky items, and bulk The cargo can choose bulk containers.
When we are shipping, it is very important to know how to choose the shipping container, and it is also to ensure the safe arrival of the goods to the destination.
When the overseas epidemic has not been effectively controlled, telecommuting and home isolation have become the norm. The suspension of offline transactions in the past has accelerated the shift of international trade to online. In this context, China's foreign trade exports have accelerated recovery, especially the rapid increase in cross-border e-commerce orders.
Recently, the "home economy" related products represented by furniture, home appliances, toys, and daily necessities have continued to explode. China’s small commodity export orders have surged, and many manufacturers’ orders have already been scheduled to 2021.
Correspondingly, due to the imbalance of China's import and export trade, container shipping export freight rates remain high, and containers are "difficult to find". These problems have become more prominent under the stimulation of huge transportation demand.
The explosive growth of export orders and thorny transportation problems have put Chinese exporters facing tremendous pressure and challenges.
Export orders soared, shipping costs soared
"This time of the year is the peak season. In previous years, the factory was very busy and the number of offline purchases was countless. This year, affected by the epidemic, almost all of them have adopted online ordering." Wan Rufang, general manager of Zhejiang Fengfan Stainless Steel Products Co., Ltd., told China A reporter from Aviation Weekly said.
Ju Jianshuang, general manager of Shanghai Jiesheng Furniture Co., Ltd. also introduced: "Compared with last year, this year our company's export orders have increased by about 10%."
But the headache for these exporters is that although the volume of export orders has exploded, their profits have not risen but fallen. The main reason is that the increase in shipping costs is even more alarming.
At the beginning of this year, the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic caused most Chinese companies to stop work and production, leading to the cancellation of many orders and a decline in freight volume. Shipping companies have also adopted measures such as reducing capacity and reducing voyage density in response to market changes. However, shortly afterwards, the epidemic in China was effectively controlled, and companies gradually resumed work and production, exports basically recovered, and freight volumes rebounded rapidly.
However, judging from the market reaction, the shipping company's capacity increase did not match the cargo volume, which caused the freight rate to rise all the way. The direct reason for the recent sharp increase in freight rates is that the overseas epidemic has affected the efficiency of port loading and unloading. At the same time, the logistics turnover is not smooth, the shortage of containers is very prominent, and the supply and demand are seriously mismatched. For this reason, shipping companies have begun to levy congestion surcharges, peak season surcharges, and lack of containers surcharges.
Latest SCFI data
According to the Shanghai Export Container Freight Index (SCFI) released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, on December 18, the market price of Shanghai’s exports to European basic ports (including maritime surcharges) was US$3,124/TEU, an increase of 6.0% from a week ago. Compared with the US$1,508/TEU a month ago, it has doubled.
The price of US$3,124/TEU on the Asia-Europe route is the highest ever since SCFI was released in 2009.
During the same period, the market prices (including shipping surcharges) for exports from Shanghai to basic ports in the West and East of the United States were 3,900 US dollars/FEU and 4874 US dollars/FEU, which were also at historical highs.
Cai Jiaxiang, vice chairman of the China Association of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Enterprises, said bluntly: "Sometimes, the sum of various surcharges even exceeds the freight."
Exporters' profit shrinking affects foreign trade stability in the long term
It is understood that about 80% to 90% of foreign trade export enterprises in China sign the FOB clause in the export contract, that is, the buyer pays for the freight.
Cai Jiaxiang analyzed: "In a short period of time, because Chinese exporters who sign FOB clauses will pay the freight by the buyer, it will not be greatly affected in the early stage of the price increase. But from a long-term perspective, if the freight continues to rise, the export The business is bound to be affected to a certain extent."
He took the US importer as an example. If the buyer needs to pay up to 5,000 US dollars in freight per box for a long time, the buyer's import cost will be greatly increased, and the Chinese exporters may be required to share the high freight.
Even if the Chinese exporters who sign the FOB clause do not need to bear the ocean freight, they still have to pay for the transportation costs of the goods from the factory to the dock. At present, affected by the lack of containers, exporters can only obtain empty containers by waiting for empty containers or raising the price. In order to ensure shipments, most exporters will choose to increase the price to pick up the box, which also increases the export cost of Chinese exporters.
More importantly, the continued high freight rates will also affect the purchasing power of overseas consumers. Due to the increase in costs and the substitutability of some commodities, importers may consider whether to use substitutes when choosing commodities.
Wan Rufang said: “Our company’s order volume from August to October was relatively large. Compared with March to June, it has doubled. But starting from November, some countries have adopted closed measures and freight Excessively high, to a large extent affect the customer's purchase volume."
On the other hand, the Chinese exporters who signed the CIF clauses, as they directly bear the export freight, have a deeper understanding of the pain points of high freight, and it has effectively affected their own profits.
Ju Jianshuang's company faced this situation. He reluctantly said: "Our company is mainly based on signing CIF contract terms. In most cases, the ocean freight of exported goods is borne by us. The recent rapid increase in freight has caused the company's costs to rise sharply, and the monthly profit is about reduced. 600,000 yuan."
Ju Jianshuang said that the high freight rates are too burdensome for companies that "small profits but quicker sales" and mainly out-of-stock volume. "We will consider negotiating with customers to postpone shipments or raise prices appropriately. But the main solution is to give up some profits by the company itself to maintain normal operations."
He believes that a balance should be maintained between production companies and transportation companies to ensure the living space of both parties.
However, even in the current era of "hard to find a box" and frequent freight charges, seaborne export is still the first choice for Chinese exporters.
There are two main reasons for this. One is the export destinations of some exporters, such as the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries. These destinations cannot deliver goods by means of transportation other than sea or air, and air transportation has certain transportation restrictions and the freight rate is too high. , Most exporters will not consider; second, although shipping costs have risen sharply, they are still lower than road, rail, air and other transportation methods. At the same time, shipping has greater advantages in capacity and can better meet the needs of Chinese exporters.
Cai Jiaxiang further explained: "In the early days, shipping goods to Europe via the China-Europe Express train cost about US$10,000 per TEU. At present, although the freight rate of the China-Europe Express train has been lowered to US$7,000-8,000 per TEU, the price is still higher than that of ocean freight. From the perspective of many Chinese exporters, price is more important than speed."
Chinese and U.S. regulators frequently call for exporters to restore capacity
In response to the current difficulties faced by Chinese exporters, the Ministry of Commerce of China has paid close attention and responded publicly.
Gao Feng, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a recent press conference that many countries around the world are facing similar problems in foreign trade logistics due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The mismatch between supply and demand of capacity is the direct cause of the increase in freight rates. Factors such as poor container turnover have indirectly pushed up shipping costs and reduced logistics efficiency.
Gao Feng, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce
He further emphasized: "The Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to increase capacity allocation, support accelerated container return transportation, improve operational efficiency, and support container manufacturing enterprises to expand production capacity. At the same time, it will increase market supervision and strive to stabilize market prices. Provide strong logistics support for the stable development of foreign trade."
Prior to this, the regulatory authorities of China, the United States and other countries have also stated that they will pay close attention to issues such as rising freight rates in the shipping market.
In September of this year, the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China interviewed all shipping companies operating China-US liner routes, emphasizing that it will strengthen the supervision of China-US routes, requiring that the capacity, routes and schedules must be filed, and freight and all surcharges must be regulated. reasonable.
Also in September, the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) also issued a warning to shipping companies that it would crack down on potential violations of competition laws. Soon after, FMC also announced the toughest measures to increase the supervision of the three major shipping alliances in response to issues such as freight and demurrage. It is required that shipping alliances must submit specific trade data to FMC every month, whereas previously it was only required to submit every quarter.
In this regard, Cai Jiaxiang said that the European and American regulatory policies are relatively timely. The EU has the most stringent anti-monopoly issues, and the United States is not inferior. These areas have achieved certain results in freight control, and prices are relatively stable.
Regarding the domestic export trade market, Cai Jiaxiang believes that “restoring the original normal capacity and flight density is the top priority to solve the problem.”
He further stated that the voice of the Ministry of Commerce can improve the current market conditions to a certain extent, but it still needs to increase efforts. "Call on the Ministry of Transport to interview shipping companies to restore normal capacity and flight density, and the State Administration for Market Supervision and Administration will use anti-monopoly laws reasonably and adopt legal weapons to cut the root cause of shipping problems." Cai Jiaxiang said.
It is reported that the Port of Los Angeles, the largest port in the United States, is currently under continuous pressure from a large number of containers entering the port.
Workers are picking out Christmas presents from piles of containers to ensure that these goods can appear under the Christmas tree of American families in time.
According to data released by the Port of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the port handled a total of 889,746 20-foot standard containers in November this year, a 22% increase year-on-year.
Factors such as rising consumer spending, holiday gifts and restocking have contributed to an unprecedented surge in freight volumes in recent months.
Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said that the average monthly container throughput since August has been close to 930,000.
It is rare to be so busy at this late in the year, but 2020 itself is not a normal year.
Seroka further stated that as consumers continue to stay at home and shop online instead of going out to consume services, it is expected that the busy port will continue for at least a few months.
To help shippers manage the influx of goods, the port has introduced new data tools and provided more places to stack containers.
The logistics pressure at the end of the year was mainly due to the impact of the epidemic in the first half of this year. As of mid-December, the annual freight volume of the Port of Los Angeles was still 3% lower than the same period in 2019. The main reason was the 19% drop in freight volume in the first five months.
Since the second half of the year, containers from Asia have poured in at a record rate.
The Port of Los Angeles stated that the imported 20-foot standard containers reached 464,000 in November, an increase of 25% year-on-year; the export standard containers fell 5% to 130,000;
At the same time, empty container transportation with strong demand in Asia increased by 34.2% year-on-year to 294,000.
According to media reports, the surge in container imports has also caused traffic congestion in the port, making it more difficult for trucks and trucks to transport goods from the port quickly, which has also caused a slowdown in the speed of cargo ships entering the port.
According to Seroka, 50 of the 88 ships that arrived at the Port of Los Angeles in November waited 2.5 days at anchor before unloading.
By December, 80% of arriving ships had to wait an average of four days.
The congestion of port transportation has also made the US toy industry worried. There is currently less than two weeks before the industry's most important Christmas.
Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment, said that as of Tuesday, the company had a backlog of 250 containers at the port, which had been delayed by three to four weeks before the scheduled delivery date. Currently, it can only get some of them every day with the help of the port.
In recent months, the number of ships going to the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach has almost doubled, and the nearby seas have been heavily congested, causing extensive delays in routes north of the United States and even affecting the throughput of the Port of Oakland. The Marine Exchange of Southern California in Los Angeles confirmed the incident. According to statistics, 52 container ships entered and exited the San Pedro Bay port on Monday alone, and the daily average for the year was 24 ships, even more exaggerated is that the number of berthed ships reached 23 ships, and the daily average is only one.
The rapid increase in the number of trans-Pacific freighters has boosted the throughput data of California container ports. According to statistics, the container throughput of the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in November showed double-digit growth-the container throughput of the Port of Los Angeles in November Soared to 889,746 TEU, an increase of 22% over the same period last year. Officials from the local port and shipping authority stated that there has been an unprecedented surge in freight volume under the influence of factors such as the increase in consumers at the end of the year, the approaching holidays such as Christmas and New Year, and the inventory of various units.
The gap between imports and exports across the United States has widened again, and the rate of empty containers in ports has skyrocketed
Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, said at a news conference on Wednesday, “After nearly 11 months of year-on-year decline in freight volume, we have now ushered in 4 consecutive months of year-on-year growth. In the past month, our monthly average throughput reached 930,000 TEUs. But related to this, our export volume was affected by many factors-mainly due to the continuing trade tensions with China and the continued appreciation of the U.S. dollar. The volume dropped by 5.5% compared to the same period last year, and it was down nearly 15% for the whole year. Fully loaded containers were even shipped back to Asia empty after being unloaded at our port. This month, the number of empty containers was as high as 294,000 TEUs. This was an increase of nearly 35% in the same period last year."
The Port of Long Beach also stated in a press release that November was the best November on record, and that this was the result of the holiday retail boom and the surge in delivery of medical protective equipment-the Port of Long Beach in November The container throughput was 783,523 TEUs, an increase of 30.6% over the same period last year. The situation at the Port of Long Beach is entirely related to the surge in imports. Imports increased by 30.5%, soaring to 382,677 TEUs; but exports fell 5.2% to 117,283 TEUs-like the Port of Los Angeles, the empty container rate increased by 55% to 283,563 TEUs Standard box.
Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, said: "As consumers choose to live at home this year, online shopping and purchases of medical protective equipment have gradually increased. However, as a new round of new crown pneumonia epidemic is still spreading across the country, The overall economic outlook is uncertain."
This is the highest port import volume that U.S. ports have encountered in the past decade
Some analysts believe that due to the restrictions of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, consumers are unable to spend money on services and start to spend money on goods, resulting in this unexpected growth, and the new crown epidemic has also contributed to the prosperity of container ports (at least Is temporary).
Excessive accumulation of goods has become a problem that more and more container ports are facing. MarineTraffic AIS (Ship Positioning) data shows that an average of more than 20 container ships are waiting in Los Angeles and San Pedro Bay in Long Beach every day. This is the same as the number of ships at anchorage last week.
Source: Marine Traffic
John McCown, the founder of Blue Alpha Capital, said that this seemed unimaginable when the new crown epidemic began. He added: "Considering the possible increase in December 2020, the annual increase will be around 1.5%, which will reverse the slight decline of 0.9% in 2019.
McCown pointed out that there were several industries where imports surged in November. Imports of furniture, sporting goods and toys increased by 55%. In October and September, they increased by 52% and 41%, respectively. "The lifestyle at home has driven the sales of a range of consumer products." He added that the surge in demand is partly due to consumers' redistribution of spending that is usually used for vacations, dining out and entertainment.
According to data from Blue Alpha Capital, despite the positive import data, US exports in November fell by 4.2%, the ninth consecutive month of decline, further exacerbating trade imbalances, and the import load ratio of each export reached 2.32, which is close to the historical record. .
McCown said: "The latest data seems to confirm that the impact of the trade war on our container exports is greater than the impact on our container imports."
Facing the soaring imports from the west coast, the port of Auckland in the north is not so lucky
Unlike the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles on the west coast, the Port of Oakland in the north increased its throughput by less than 1% year-on-year in November and its export volume fell by 2.6%. In November, the total imported container volume was 78,045 TEUs.
Officials at the Port of Oakland said that despite the strong import demand from the United States, the import volume of our port is far from reaching the expected value. The official quoted reports from local maritime experts as saying that it is precisely because of large batches of imported goods across the United States that disrupted the normal freight arrangements at ports, causing large-scale delays in the delivery of goods at many ports. What needs to be pointed out is that the increased accumulation of imported cargo in Southern California ports has caused ship delays, and many ships originally scheduled to call at the Port of Oakland have been forced to change their routes or directly cancel their call arrangements.
The director of the Port of Oakland, Bryan Brandes, declared that everyone does not need to be so pessimistic. “The cargo that should come to our port will still come, at most a while later (Thecargo is there, it's just delayed).” He expects to wait until December for a certain amount of cargo. Will grow.
However, Brandes also acknowledged that the increase in the number of incoming ships on the west coast has had a butterfly effect on the Port of Oakland. "Most of the cargo east of the trans-Pacific route is the Los Angeles route directly, and then some of it will go north to and from the Port of Oakland. So once the Port of Los Angeles produces Because of the delay, we will have a little impact here more or less."
U.S. agricultural exports have been affected by the chain, and this new year may not have been easy
The Port of Oakland is an export gateway favored by agricultural producers in central California, and it is now being hit by disruptions in the supply chain. As the Spring Festival approaches, exporters of agricultural products in many places, including California, said that due to shipping delays, their export business has been affected on a large scale-especially almond and walnut exporters, whose export peaks are at the end of each year.
Ed DeNike, President of SSA Terminals, said: "The biggest problem is due to traffic congestion in Southern California. Freight ships have not left Southern California. The arrival of the ships at the Port of Oakland may be delayed for at least one week."
Peter Schneider, vice president of freight company TGS Logistics, said that the butterfly effect of port congestion on the inland supply chain is getting worse. TGS now has to double the capacity of their container warehouse in Auckland. Because of the delay in the arrival of the ship, the shipping company will either refuse to accept all the exported goods or change the date of receiving the exported goods. This has caused exporters’ services to overseas buyers. Had a great impact.
my country's port containers are "difficult to find"
On the one hand, U.S. agricultural product exporters were delayed due to ship delays, and on the other hand, Chinese product exports were restricted by the shortage of containers.
According to economic data released by my country, China set a new record of trade surplus in November-US$75.4 billion, and exports increased by 21.1% year-on-year. Among them, exports to the United States led the growth and hit a record high. Analysts pointed out that the surge in trade imports to China is contrary to the expectations of U.S. bipartisan politicians. Although the Trump administration has imposed various restrictions on Chinese goods, there are few signs that the global supply chain will move closer to the U.S. On the contrary, the long-term impact of the epidemic on the United States seems to strengthen the position of China's manufacturing industry.
According to port carriers, due to the heavy congestion of major ports in the United Kingdom and the United States, a large number of containers have been stranded in these ports, which has affected global container turnover. The shortage of empty containers in Asian ports is so serious that carriers sometimes cannot guarantee Loading cargo at Asian loading ports.
Although carriers have made every effort to send empty containers from the United States to Asia-these measures even include "self-harm" measures such as drastically reducing the free container period, they still cannot change the reality of a serious shortage of containers in Asia, especially in China The ports of Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai, so that some ships cannot leave Asia with full load.
