The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have again delayed their implementation of fines against shipping lines for containers that have remained too long at the terminals, now until Nov. 29, the ports said Nov. 22.
The fines was set to take effect Nov. 15, and were initially delayed until Nov. 22, for unloaded containers slated to leave by the ports truck and remaining for nine or more days and to leave by rail and remaining for six or more days.
“In recent weeks, clearing our docks of imports and empties has been a top priority,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said in a statement. “As a result, we’ve seen a marked improvement of fluidity on our marine terminals, which allows more vessels to be processed.”
Neighboring Los Angeles and Long Beach are the US’ two largest container ports. Since Oct. 25, the ports have seen a decline of 33% in cargo still at the terminals.
“Before the pandemic-induced import surge began in mid-2020, on average, containers for local delivery remained on container terminals under four days, while containers destined for trains dwelled less than two days,” the Port of Long Beach said in the statement.
Major ocean carriers servicing the port complex have already stated than any excess fees would be passed on to shippers.
“It’s more carrot than stick, but there was way too much haste in the implementation,” a US-based freight forwarder said. “The issues are not at the port, but with the infrastructure.”
Platts Container Rate 13 – North Asia-to-West Coast North America – was assessed Nov. 22 at $8,400/FEU on an FAK basis, up 115% against the same date in 2020 as port congestion and equipment imbalances put pressure on capacity while demand firmed.
Source: Platts
