The trade organization forecasts that major USA retail container ports will handle 1.61 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units this month, down 0.6% from the same month past year, and said that “all parties” must work together to ensure that cargo gets onto retail warehouses and store shelves as intended. “Someone from the garment industry called earlier today asking: ‘How long is this going to go on, because I’ve got clothing out there,”‘ Louttit said.
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South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd. filed for court receivership on Wednesday after losing the support of its banks, setting the stage for its assets to be frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels. Hyundai Merchant Marine plans to step up services by deploying at least 13 of its ships to fill demand on two routes that had been exclusive to Hanjin, Reuters reported.
Global trading companies including those from the US that received Hanjin Shipping service to deliver their goods are busy looking for other shippers.
And an employee at the Hanjin office in Felixstowe said that nobody within the United Kingdom operation was authorised to talk about the situation facing the company.
Hanjin accounts for 7.8 percent of trans-Pacific trade volume for the US market.
Jon Talton of The Seattle Times writes that the effects of the bankruptcy “could be profound”.
“U.S. bound cargo is already being delayed at origin ports and Hanjin ships loaded with cargo idle unable to enter USA ports, containers are being detained on arrival clogging already congested ports and preventing merchandise from reaching store shelves”.
A South Korean aluminum scrap dealer said offloading operations at Busan port was slow as companies engaged in offloading operations were refusing to handle Hanjin cargoes since Wednesday, fearing they may not be paid.
As the company is part of an alliance with five other cargo firms, there will be a mix of containers on each vessel – some belonging to Hanjin, the rest to the other four partners.
“They’ve got bills to pay they could literally close their doors over this”, said Peter Schneider, Fresno-based vice president of T.G.S. Transportation Inc., Schneider said.
Hanjin’s bankruptcy comes at a time when retailers are gearing up for the fall shipping season, its busiest tine of the year in advance of the holidays.
Midweek, it filed for bankruptcy protection and faced the possibility of the detention and seizure of its ships by creditors, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ships that are only leased by Hanjin could see their actual owner take back control and bring them into a harbour. Since vessels already are operating at high capacity, shippers may wind up paying a premium to squeeze their cargo containers on board, said Jock O’Connell, worldwide trade adviser to Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics.
Ocean freight shipping fees between China and the US have soared as much as 50 percent since the bankruptcy was announced.
On Thursday, a Korean trade group said about 10 Hanjin ships were effectively seized in China, which Hanjin said on Friday was incorrect.
About 70 percent of South Korea’s overseas shipments is through sea, of which Hanjin Shipping accounts for about 6 percent, according to Cheong Seung Il, a trade ministry official. A few months ago, Poskus said, prices hit historic lows globally – down to as much as $600 per container from Shanghai to Los Angeles.
Analysts say shipping rates are recovering somewhat, with the approach of the pre-Christmas rush.
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These delays could last weeks or months.
