The number of Chinese cargo ships heading to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the top destinations of Asian cargo, fell sharply. The trade war between China and the US has led to a surge in demand, with marine airlines beginning to halt oral services. “We’re at a turning point on the West Coast,” a logistics expert tells CNBC.
The pullback of US-China trade as a result of President Trump’s sudden tariffs on Chinese goods is beginning to appear in data on major ports, with traffic on container ships heading to Los Angeles and Long Beach being dwindled sharply.
For the week ending May 3, the number of cargo ships heading to Southern California ports, leaving China towards the port of Southern California, heading to the US ports that are receiving Chinese freight and other Asian trade, fell 29% a week, according to Port Optimizer, a marine tracking system. Year-on-year shows a 44% decline in vessels expected to arrive in the week of May 4th.
This data is updated daily based on the vessel manifesto declaring the port’s destination. These vessels are planning to leave Asia or are already on the water and heading towards these ports.
This week, 12 ships are expected to fall from 22 weeks on April 20th. Measured in shipping containers, a total of 62,568 TEUs (21-foot equivalent units) arrive in the week from May 4th to May 10th.
Radioactive fallout from slowing marine cargo is beginning to collide with ground transport linked to ports.
“We’re at a turning point on the West Coast,” said Ken Adamo, head of analytics at DAT Freight & Analytics. “When we look at the number of truck loads available for trucks, we’ve seen over 700,000 loads evaporate nationwide over the past week compared to two weeks ago,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent told investors on Tuesday that the trade war with China is unsustainable and that de-expansion could come in the “very near future,” a person in the room told CNBC.
The drop on the vessel coincides with an increase in cancelled voyages from Pacific Air’s maritime airlines, including ports in Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle, according to warnings from global logistics informing clients of blank sails.
The Gemini Alliance cancellation rate between Maersk and Hapag Lloyd is 24.39%. Then there was 18% Ocean Alliance, consisting of CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, Evergreen and OOCL. The Premier Alliance, consisting of Ocean Network Express, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Yangmin Marine Transport, is 15%. MSC and Zim currently have a 10% percentage of cancelled sailing.
Maritime airlines are trying to balance the pullback of orders resulting from tariffs and escalation of tensions in the trade war. CNBC recently reported a total of 80 blanks or cancelled voyages from China as demand plummets and carriers suspend or adjust oral service services.
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