While there may be less congestion at important US ports, other ports across the world, particularly in Europe, continue to have significant congestion. Hapag Lloyd announced last week that it would impose congestion levies at two French ports in a market update. “Le Havre and Fos-sur-Mer are at severe levels of congestion. As a result, Hapag Lloyd announces the implementation of a congestion surcharge that will apply to all import and export truck carrier haulage activities for all container types,” informed Hapag Lloyd.
In addition, other major European terminals are also witnessing reduced productivity, primarily caused by labor shortages and port congestion.
Although port operations at Antwerp remain stable, the upcoming holiday season could lead to reduced labor availability. The average yard utilization stands at 80 percent, an indication that most of the storage at the port is occupied.
An almost similar situation is visible at Europe Container Terminals (ECT), Rotterdam where yard space is up to 85 percent full, while reefers are at 100 percent of the plug utilization. Long dwell times are also observed for transshipment and import cargo, though there is improvement in pick-up rates.
At the Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) Hamburg, Germany, ongoing labor disputes are causing delays and container backlogs. Currently, the yard utilization stands at 83 percent, mainly due to longer port stay time and longer pick-up times for the imports.
In Southampton Port, London, used yard space is at 81 percent, but the situation is manageable at reefer terminal, with only 65 percent of space utilized.
Remarkably, there is sufficient labor deployed at London Gateway Port. The overall situation is at a good level despite the port having a busy vessel line-up. In many other parts of Europe, including Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, limited trucking availability continues to hamper the movement of goods.
