Industry experts were hoping to see a late-2023 surge in air cargo demand. According to Air Cargo News, however, that doesn’t appear to be happening. Data shows that demand for air cargo only rose 2% in October as compared to September: a lower increase than many had hoped to see.
According to an article in Grocery Dive, the priorities of shoppers has changed due to recent price increases related to inflation. New research by Bazaarvoice shows that price is now the main driver in customer purchasing decisions.
According to Supply Chain Brain, supply chain experts believe that 2023 peak season volumes will be similar to those seen before the pandemic. This involves an October uptick, a drop in November, and then larger volumes in December in January.
According to the Associated Press, the Panama Canal recently announced that it will reduce the number of ships allowed to travel the Canal to 31 per day. This is down from 32 per day in August. The reason for this reduction is the ongoing drought that has limited the supply of fresh water available to operate the locks.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the amount of available warehouse space remains historically tight. The article details the current industrial real estate landscape, with a variety of graphs charting industry metrics like available space, industrial leasing activity, and retailer inventory-to-sales ratios.
According to the JOC, the price of diesel fuel has increased by 20% over the last three months. This increase in fuel prices is likely to impact trucking companies and their customers as we head into the new year.
According to FreightWaves, import container volumes in August were up 0.4% from July and up 5.5% from June. August volumes were also 2.5% higher than pre-COVID volumes in August 2019, showing “continued consistency with 2019 results.”
The current contract for dockworkers at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports is set to expire over a year from now, in late September 2024. According to The Wall Street Journal, unions representing workers at ports from Maine to Texas have already begun contract talks with the ports in hopes of coming to an agreement well ahead of that expiration date.
After a long and arduous 13-month negotiation process, the JOC reports that a tentative deal has been reached between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). It is a 6-year deal covering all 29 ports on the US West Coast. With the deal reached, there is optimism that discretionary cargo shippers had diverted away from the West Coast will soon return.
As negotiations (hopefully) continue between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the situation at West Coast ports remains fluid. Here are a few updates to get you up to speed.
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