Us East Strike Imminent! On September 1, MSC first informed customers that, effective October 1 (the day the strike began), an Emergency operations surcharge (EOS) of $1,000 per 20-foot container and $1,500 per 40-foot container will be added to all shipments to ports in the eastern United States, the Gulf Coast, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada, respectively. The move is in line with federal maritime regulations, which require the industry to be notified at least 30 days before fees are implemented.

    A few days ago, CMA CGM also announced that since October 11, the United States East Coast and Gulf Coast region of all imported cargoes, a port of destination surcharge, all container charges are 1500 US dollars /TEU. For exports, a surcharge of US $800 per 20 feet and US $1,000 per 40 feet will be added from the same date. In addition, the company has decided to impose an additional freight "recovery fee" of $500 per TEU for all transatlantic shipments from October 1.

    On the 18th, Hapag-Lloyd followed up by announcing that it would impose an interruption surcharge of $1,000 per TEU for containerized cargo bound for the eastern United States and the Gulf Coast from October 18, further demonstrating the severity of the shipping industry's readiness for the risk of strikes.

    At the same time, South Korean shipping giant HMM announced an important fee adjustment, starting October 19, 2024, for imports to the East Coast and Gulf Coast region of the United States, will implement a port of destination surcharge (DPC). The fee is $1,500 per standard container (TEU) and $3,000 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU).

    Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, pointed out during the Xeneta webinar on the 18th that the announcement of these surcharges was an early warning of freight changes that could be triggered by the strike. He stressed that the full impact of the port blockade on the container supply chain could take weeks to be fully felt, depending on the duration of the blockade.

    A prolonged strike on the U.S. East coast that stranded ships could take five to seven weeks to return to Asia would severely disrupt the peak shipping season ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, with far-reaching implications for Asia, Jensen said. He noted that the experience during the pandemic had taught shipping companies how to set prices when capacity was tight, moving beyond the cost-plus model and allowing them to increase rates more flexibly and quickly.

    Meanwhile, new analysis from supply chain visualization platform FourKites suggests that the U.S. auto and agriculture industries would be particularly vulnerable in the face of a prolonged strike. Mike DeAngelis, director of FourKites International Solutions, pointed out that auto and agricultural exporters could face serious challenges, with a sharp drop in agricultural exports likely to push up food prices in countries that rely on U.S. agricultural products, while the auto industry could experience increased supply chain problems, leading to production slowdowns and even plant closures. In addition, the strike could trigger inventory shortages, affecting the holiday shopping season and the achievement of year-end manufacturing targets.

声明：转载此文是出于传递更多信息之目的。若有来源标注错误或侵犯了您的合法权益，请作者持权属证明与本网联系，我们将及时更正、删除，谢谢。