The surge in US imports further contributed to global shipping imbalances

The surge in US imports has led to chaos in global container shipments, which have grown by 10% a year since 2019, while other trade has grown by a relatively modest amount.

Low inventories, a strong US economy and shippers who do not want to be out of stock or have their shelves cleared keep the demand outlook strong until at least early 2022.

Alan Murphy, chief executive of Sea Intelligence Maritime Analysis,

The contraction in container ship supply is entirely the result of demand in North America, which since September 2020 has seen monthly new demand in North America alone increase by about 500,000 TEU over the same period in 2019, it said, citing data from the Container Trade Statistics Bureau (T).

The growth has been most pronounced across the Pacific.

From June 2020 to May 2021, sub-average monthly TEU imports from Greater China and Southeast Asia to the U.S. West Coast were 29 percent higher than in the same period in 2019, CTS data showed.

Much of the increase is due to the pandemic, with Murphy citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which shows that through May 2021, consumers reported spending on durable goods at an annualized rate of 25 percent below 2019 levels.

There is no end in sight to the growth in demand for container ships in North America, with many Americans still enjoying subsidised stimulus measures from the pandemic, such as unemployment benefits and the COVID-19 lockdown.

Murphy said that after the surge in demand, U.S. retailers need to increase inventories well above 2019 levels.

Many companies are also sending signals to investors.
There seems to be no let-up in US consumer demand and they will have to keep pressuring sea carriers to keep restocking.

Freight rates are still not falling, north American routes continue to rise

The latest edition of the Baltic Exchange and Freightos Global Container Freight Index shows the Asia-Nordic index was little changed at $13,208 per 40 feet (up 01%), compared with $1,679 a year earlier.

However, very little short-term business actually ships at these rates, and many shippers have to pay about $4,000 to $5,000 in additional premiums.

The situation is equally dire for trans-Pacific shippers, where all-inclusive rates have soared and space, especially to us west Coast ports, is hard to secure.

According to the FBX index, freight rates, which had fallen earlier, surged again,

The basic spot rate to the west coast of the United States was $6,564 per 40 pounds, up 12 percent from the previous week, while to the East Coast it was $10,503 per unit foot, up 7 percent from the previous week.