The backlog of goods and the increase in congestion

It is reported that there are still more than 40 billion US dollars of container ships in the waters around North American ports waiting to enter the port to unload. But the change is that the center of the congestion has shifted to the eastern United States, with about 64% of waiting ships concentrated in the eastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico, while only 36% of ships waiting in the western United States.

Anchorages at ports along the eastern U.S. and Gulf Coast continue to be crowded with container ships waiting to unload, and there are now far more container ships lined up at those ports than in the western U.S.

A total of 125 container ships were waiting to berth outside North American ports as of Friday, according to an analysis of ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic and queuing in California.

That's down 16 percent from the 150 waiting ships in January at the peak of congestion in the Western Americas, but up 36 percent from 92 ships a month earlier.

Ships lining up near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have grabbed headlines for the past year, but the epicenter of the current congestion has shifted: As of Friday, only 36 percent of ships were waiting to call outside the U.S. port, compared with 64 percent of ships congregate in ports along the eastern U.S. and Gulf coasts, with the Port of Savannah, Georgia, the most queuing port in North America.

The total capacity of container ships waiting outside U.S. and British Columbia ports last week was 1,037,164 TEU, assuming a 90% ship load rate, with an average value of $43,899 per imported TEU (average 2020 Los Angeles imported cargo). value, which is likely to be conservative given inflation).

The total value of these cargoes waiting to be berthed and unloaded outside the port is then estimated at more than $40 billion.

Affected by labor-management negotiations, capacity was transferred to the east of the United States

According to Project44, a Chicago-based supply chain visibility platform that tracks monthly container volumes arriving in the U.S. West and U.S. East, the statistical report found that the June capacity to the U.S. East increased by 83% year-on-year, an increase compared to June 2020 177%.

Capacity in the U.S. East is currently on par with the U.S. West, which is down nearly 40% from its January peak.

Project44 attributed the shift to importers' concerns about potential disruptions to labor talks at the U.S.-West port.

Ship queues in the US East and Gulf Coast

As of Friday, MarineTraffic data showed that 36 container ships were waiting for a berth at the Port of Savannah off Tybee Island, Georgia.

The total capacity of these vessels is 343,085 TEU (average capacity: 9,350 TEU).

FreightWaves' SONAR Booking Index shows Savannah's import volume growth was significantly higher than the national average compared to January 2019.

According to updated data from Hapag-Lloyd, container ships are currently waiting 10-12 days for a berth at the Port of Savannah. Savannah's yard utilization is 89 percent.

The port with the second-largest number of ships in the US East is New York-New Jersey.

As of last Friday, 20 vessels were waiting for berths with a total capacity of 180,908 TEU (average capacity: 9,045 TEU).

Hapag-Lloyd said the wait time for a berth at the Port of New York-New Jersey "depends on the situation at the terminal and is currently more than 20 days."

It added that the yard utilisation rate at Maher Terminal was 92%, GCT Bayonne Terminal 75% and APM Terminal 72%.

On the Gulf Coast, there are 20 vessels waiting near Houston with a combined capacity of 121,196 TEU (average capacity: 6,060 TEU).

According to Hapag-Lloyd, Houston's Barbours Cut is at 86 percent utilization and "due to longer dwell times, the terminal continues to face a shortage of chassis equipment."

Elsewhere on the east coast and along the Gulf Coast, two ships were waiting near the port of Virginia, and two more were waiting near the port of New Orleans.

The queuing of ships in the United States and West

There are 24 container ships waiting for berths in Los Angeles-Long Beach with a total capacity of 208,903 TEU (average capacity: 8,704 TEU), according to the Southern California Shipping Exchange's 7 a.m. ship queuing data on Friday.

The backlog is down sharply from a high of 109 vessels on Jan. 9, but remains the second-most lined port in North America.

Ship counts in Los Angeles and Long Beach have hovered around current levels since the end of May and are still up slightly year-over-year.

At other ports on the West Coast, 10 ships were waiting for berths in Oakland, according to data from the Bay Area Maritime Exchange at 7 a.m. Friday. The total capacity of these vessels is 79,712 TEU (average capacity: 7,971 TEU).

In addition, there are eight ships waiting for berth in Vancouver, British Columbia, and three more ships waiting for berth near Seattle-Tacoma.