US Port congestion

We have been advised there is massive port congestion problems in the US. This includes both East Coast and West Coast ports as well as the gulf ports.
There are rumours of a port congestion surcharge being implemented however the bigger effect is delays in shipping goods of between 1 and 3 weeks due to these delays.
We request that you book your shipments as early as possible and allow some lead times in the movement of the goods as these delays will be in place for at least the next month.

Empty Container Parks

As was predicted in late 2020 the empty container parks in Brisbane and Melbourne are now getting close to capacity. This was expected after Sydney all but reached capacity in the 3^rd quarter of 2020.
There has been positive notifications from shipping lines however that they will start allocating vessels and space to evacuating as many empty containers as possible from the 3 ports and therefore freeing up this current bottle neck.
Unfortunately this will take time and whilst the issue will be resolved it will continue to mean additional costs for importers and exporters in attending empty container parks and possible additional costs should a container park refuse the empty return.
We continue to work with our transport partners to work around the container park issues as they are very fluid and to date we have had minimal additional costs.

Infrastructure fees:

Infrastructure fees, container park fees and timeslot fees continue to rise at different rates through different ports. We are working to contain the increases so as to not increase our clients costs and will keep all clients up to date on movements in this area. Whilst there is change coming with a voluntary code being implemented, this is voluntary so any Stevedore can go outside the code when they want to.
We will continue to keep our clients updated as to market movements and if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us

Take care and stay safe.