|
Evidence
continues to support the perceptions of
most importers that congestion at U.S. ports
has, for now, been substantially eliminated.
In the always informative monthly Port
Tracker report from the National
Retail Federation and research firm Global
Insights, congestion was rated as “low”
in all 10 U.S./Canadian ports monitored
by the service (LA/Long Beach, Oakland,
Vancouver,
Seattle,
Tacoma,
Savannah,
Houston,
New
York/New
Jersey,
Charleston,
and Hampton Roads/Virginia).
So what happened
from the logjams of 2004/05 to get to this
tranquil state? Global Insight researcher
Paul Bingham recently answered a reader
question in detail on this topic (See Reader
Question: Why Isn't Port Congestion at U.S.Ports
an Issue Any More?), noting that
after those tough years, “most everyone
in the supply chain took some action to
reduce their exposure to the impacts of
future potential congestion.”
Actions
have ranged from the Pierpass program at
Long
Beach,
to general improvements in the process flow
of container movements, as well as shipper
diversion away from Long Beach/LA. Those
moves, combined with a recent dramatic reduction
in the growth of import container volumes,
have made life for importers much betterr
(See Worries
about Port Congestion Fade, as Inbound Container
Volume Growth Slows Dramatically).
Meanwhile,
congestion at European ports seems to be
rising, rather than abating, in part because
Europe
is a few years behind the import growth
curve than the U.S.,
and also due to even stronger opposition
to port expansion there (See
European
Supply Chains Threatened by Inability to
Expand Ports).
So
will the congestion issues in North
America
return? Bingham notes that the “low-hanging
fruit of easy throughput capacity additions
through operational changes alone (e.g.the
extra shifts with PierPASS) become harder
and harder to find over time,” as
import volumes continue to see strong increases,
despite the moderation in growth seen over
the past few quarters. |
|