Headlines for Q3 2024 Elevated ocean rates, Labor issues looming in N. America, and Cybersecurity   Global Ports The Headlines: Port congestion in Asia, particularly in Singapore, has intensified, causing delays of up to seven days and affecting over 450,000 TEU of vessel capacity. In response, shipping rates have risen from Asia, with spot rates from North Asia to the U.S. West Coast reaching the highest they’ve been since late 2022. Singapore is attempting to expand its handling capacity; however, delays are...

The fallout from the CrowdStrike outage highlighted the fragility of several industries and supply chains. Even though the outage impacted a mere 1% of Windows devices, the disruption had huge economic and logistical consequences, emphasizing the need for higher standards in managing third-party computer updates, especially since the time it takes to recover can be much greater than the time of the actual incident. The event has experts calling for improved resiliency and contingency planning. The threat to commercial shipping in...

Container shipping rates have doubled since February in some key lanes and continue to rise — but remain well below the peak reached during the pandemic. Rising rates are leading to frustration among importers and raising concerns about a cost bubble. The main reason for the increase is, not surprisingly, the continued closure of the Suez Canal due to attacks by Yemeni rebels, forcing ships to take a longer route around Africa which is creating a need for more ships...

Ocean shipping rates are surging, and the current trend indicates record profits for shipping companies in the third quarter of 2024. Industry benchmarks show a substantial increase compared to pre-pandemic levels, though they haven’t quite reached the all-time highs observed in September 2021. The trend is mostly driven by ongoing disruptions in the global supply chain—high demand for goods, ongoing port congestion, geopolitical tensions, and labor shortages—which are causing a shortage of containers and an imbalance in demand for...

The Department of Commerce’s preliminary determination in the antidumping duty investigation (ADD) investigations on aluminum extrusions from 14 countries was published on May 7, 2024.  The scope of the investigation covers a broad array of products containing aluminum extrusions, including specific articles, components, subassemblies, and numerous downstream products.  The scope also contains several exclusions from the investigation that are defined by technical parameters.  Further, the scope contains a specific list of covered products if produced in China. In short,...

On September 19, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced additional items considered significant to Russian weaponry and are now restricted for export to both Russia and Belarus. In coordination with the United Kingdom and European Union, BIS continues to identify “high-priority items” by their six-digit Harmonized System (HS) codes that Russia seeks to procure for its weapons programs. Items described by these HS codes have been found in multiple Russian weapons systems used against Ukraine. In the September 2023 notice, BIS...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has today, 9/26/2023, added three more entities to those designated under the UFLPA, bringing the total number of designated entities to 27. As per the DHS announcement, the newly added entities are: Xinjiang Zhongtai Group Co. Ltd. (headquartered in Xinjiang and produces and sells polyvinyl chloride (PVC), iconic membrane caustic soda, industrial salt, calcium carbide, viscose fiber, viscose yarn, and other textile, chemical, and building materials). Xinjiang Tianshan Wool Textile Co. Ltd. (headquartered...