Welcome to the December edition of our Global Logistics Update. The holiday season is expected to be extremely dynamic, with increased demand, condensed timelines and evolving strategies shaping the logistics landscape. By planning early, businesses can navigate port challenges and meet customer expectations during this critical peak season.
South African Ports
South African ports are integral to regional and global trade, acting as key hubs for exports, imports, and transshipments across Southern Africa. Managed by Transnet National Ports Authority, these ports support a variety of cargo types, including bulk commodities, containers, liquid fuels, and automotive products. The main ports including Durban, Coega and Cape Town each continue to experience varying degrees of challenges as summarised on a weekly basis below:
We highlight in these images vessels currently at anchorage pending berth at our main ports, showing Durban Port still quite congested. Port congestion and delays have been reported with Durban at 18 days, Cape Town at 6 days and Coega at 2 days on average.
Transnet’s Anchorage Report 17/12/2024 for Durban – Vessels waiting to berth
South African ports have been undergoing modernization to increase their efficiency and capacity. TNPA has invested in upgrading local ports with new equipment, expanded terminal capacity, and digital tracking systems to improve efficiency. We hope to see some critical developments from early 2025.
Rethinking core aspects of the freight industry
It is trite that in the freighting industry the largest portion of any overdue amount relates to the actual payment of disbursements to third party service providers/sub-contractors and particularly to SARS for customs duties, VAT and demurrage charges levied from time to time. That being the case, it again to my mind begs the question as to whether this aspect should be addressed by substantially strengthening the impact of the standard trading terms by considering certain amendments.
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/rethinking-core-aspects-freight-industry-1
Global Ports
Air Freight: Main airlines continue to experience congestion during peak season with air cargo movements in high demand. Airlines do currently upsell spot rates as space is limited.
Sea Freight: Ocean freight continues with a strong global demand mid peak season.
Port Updates:
Global port congestion significantly disrupts global supply chains and trade, with vessel berthing delays and cargo buildup at major ports around the world, delays in movement is critical to the end user. While short-term disruptions can exacerbate the problem, long-term solutions lie in infrastructure upgrades, digital innovation, and better coordination across supply chains.
Shipping week 50 into week 51: Port congestion eased slightly last week with improvements coming mainly from Chinese ports while there was little change in the situation in Europe and North America. In China, the congestion is mainly concentrated in Shanghai and Ningbo which continues to see elevated vessel calls and container volumes with waiting times of up to 2 days. European port congestion also remains high with Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp and London Gateway experiencing very high yard occupancy rates.
Lunar New Year – also known as the Spring Festival – is celebrated in many countries across East and Southeast Asia and other parts of the world from 29th January and concluding on 12th February 2025. Majority of suppliers and freight agents will be closed during this holiday and suggest orders are placed in advance to prevent any delays.
North America West Coast – Rail container dwell times at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have increased due to higher-than-normal import volumes and operational challenges. While the situation has improved into December, shippers and logistics providers are still facing delays and uncertainties.
Indian port strike averted
Government and unions shook hands on a revised wage agreement and a productivity-linked reward scheme, avoiding a strike that would have hit 12 ports on both coasts of the world’s most populous nation.
https://splash247.com/indian-port-strike-averted/
Trump backs port workers’ anti-automation stance
United States President-elect Donald Trump has backed the International Longshoremen’s Association’s fight against automation in the country’s ports. Trump issued a statement expressing his unequivocal support for the ILA’s contract negotiations with international shipping lines and terminal operators, which reached a deadlock in recent weeks.
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/trump-backs-port-workers-anti-automation-stance
Goods barometer shows moderate trade growth
Global goods trade continued to expand at a moderate pace in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the latest World Trade Organization Goods Trade Barometer. However, prospects for trade in 2025 are uncertain, as they may be affected by possible trade policy shifts.
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/goods-barometer-shows-moderate-trade-growth
Carrier Service Update (3 – 16 December)
MSC opens bookings for its standalone East-West service network with new port connections, Hapag-Lloyd returns to Hamburg on its IOS service, and CMA CGM revises its shuttle route between Jamaica and Trinidad to Suriname and Guyanas.
https://mykn.kuehne-nagel.com/news/article/carrier-service-update-3-16-december-16-Dec-2024
Freight News
We understand the importance of staying up to date with the latest trends, challenges, and advancements in our industry and we wish to highlight just a few articles which you might find of interest.
Carriers unveil Panama Canal transit surcharges for new year
https://theloadstar.com/carriers-unveil-panama-canal-transit-surcharges-for-new-year
FFS Tank Terminals wins R195 million Port of Cape Town deal
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/ffs-tank-terminals-wins-r195-million-port-cape-town-deal
Multimodal negotiable cargo documents a step closer to reality
https://theloadstar.com/multimodal-negotiable-cargo-documents-a-step-closer-to-reality
Lunar cargo rush, poor weather clog major Asia ports
https://www.joc.com/article/lunar-cargo-rush-poor-weather-clog-major-asia-ports-5906170
Trade restrictive measures on the rise
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/trade-restrictive-measures-rise
Angolan President urges Ramaphosa to find Moz solution
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/angolan-president-urges-ramaphosa-find-moz-solution
Sources & References
Seatrade Maritime / Loadstar / Freight News / GoComet / Maersk / Openpr / Transnet / WeFreight / MSC / AfricaPorts / Container Statistics / Flexport / SACO / Hellenic Shipping / Worldcargonews/ Kuehne Nagel.