News

The backlog of vessels waiting to reach berths at the Port of Yantian, the largest container port in China, is gone since terminals returned to full operations on Thursday following a COVID-19 outbreak among dockworkers that significantly curtailed operations, according to an official at shipping giant A.P. Møller – Maersk.... Read more

The Suez Canal Authority reported record annual revenue of $6.3 billion in 2021 despite headwinds from COVID-19 and the grounding of the Ever Given, which shut the waterway for six days back in March 2021. The waterway also recorded its largest-ever annual net tonnage of 1.27 billion tons, for an... Read more

State media in China is insisting that volumes at the world’s largest port have not dropped, even as lockdown measures across the city of Ningbo increase. An outbreak of Covid-19 at a clothing factory in the city’s Beilun district over the weekend sparked local lockdowns and mass testing, and has... Read more

Indonesia, one of the world’s top exporters of thermal coal, is pausing exports of the fuel in January to secure dwindling supplies for domestic power plants. The monthlong halt is needed to prevent shutdowns at about 20 power plants in Java, Madura, Bali and other regions, the energy and mineral... Read more

Anecdotally, in the last weeks of 2021, the supply chain problems, encompassing a huge swath of issues, may be getting better. Containers seem to be moving out of port-side facilities more quickly, ie “dwell time” has been reduced. An important question is whether the increased attention from Washington, D.C. has... Read more

Asymptomatic and Mask Wearing Following the CDC updated recommended isolation and quarantine period, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson released the following statement: “We said we wanted to hear from medical professionals on the best guidance for quarantine, not from corporate America advocating for a shortened period due to... Read more

The European Union is weighing a broad set of new powers, including possible export controls, that would give it the ability to protect the bloc’s supply chain during periods of crisis. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will unveil the proposal as soon as the spring, according to an... Read more

Economists have upgraded growth forecasts for major Southeast Asian countries in 2022, driven by election-related spending in the Philippines and the reopening of Thailand’s tourism industry. But the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow on full-fledged economic expansion, weighing on Malaysia’s growth forecast. Prospects of interest rate hikes in... Read more

The Port of Long Beach has been awarded a $52.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration to help fund development of the port’s “Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility” helping to boost on-dock rail capacity at shipping terminals. The planned $870 million project is the centerpiece... Read more

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world’s second-biggest container line, offered to buy the African transport and logistics business of Bollore SA for 5.7 billion euros ($6.4 billion) including debt. Geneva-based MSC has been granted exclusivity until March 31 to put forward a formal bid, Bollore, the Paris-based group founded by... Read more