Ports globally are experiencing the impact of the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many shippers and ports forecasting declines to increase in the coming weeks.
The port of Oakland in California experienced a 6.5% decrease through April at its total cargo volume, imports, exports, and empty container shipments. Although export loads increased nearly 4% and loaded container volume increased 1.4% in April, it noted that imports declined nearly 1%.
In addition, Oakland also reported a 29% drop in shipments of empty containers back to origin destinations, and also reported that shipping lines have canceled 11% of their scheduled vessel calls in May and June due to dwindling demand by shippers for vessel space.
In the meantime, the port of Houston, the sixth-largest container port in the United States, reported at 12% decline in the number of containers handled in the port (221,540 TEUs) during April.
The port’s total tonnage was declined by 10% at Port Houston’s public facilities in April, including a significant decline in steel cargos primarily used by the region’s energy industry. Year-to-date, the port reported, steel volume is down 50% to less than 800 thousand short tons.
Referring to the port’s state, executive director Roger Guenther stated that up to now seven sailing have been cancelled for June, adding to the port’s total to 26 canceled sailings this year.
It’s yet to be seen what July will look like but hopefully we’ll see some improvement into the summer.
To learn more about additional ports and how they cope with the pandemic, see herebelow
- Port of Piraeus remains operational despite COVID-19 pandemic
- Ports face the economic impacts of COVID-19
- Canadian Ports remain operational amid COVID-19
- Port of Hamburg provides an overview of COVID-19 impact
