According to the company’s website news release on December 16, 2022, as part of the commitment to provide the customers with the most up-to-date and relevant information on the logistics industry, Maersk shared the Update on the Latin American market.
You will find information and interesting data on the update of the state of the ports, the most important transport routes and relevant news.
The company hopes the following information is helpful, as well as inspiring to boost your business and keep your cargo moving.
2022 Recap and What to expect for 2023
Believe it or not, new year is just around the corner and during this topic of the month, we will dedicate this space to cover some of the prominent trends that affected the industry during 2022 and what to expect for next year.
2022 Recap
The past years haven’t been easy for anyone, and logistics is no exception. There have been several events that impacted the global supply chain; the whole world lived through a pandemic and other geopolitical events that have been causing disruptions that led to significant challenges.
Apart from the supply challenges, the logistics world also faced increased prices and became resilient with many actions, one of them: increasing focus on larger quantities and storage, which led to companies moving from “just in time” to a “just in case.” Sustainability was a trend this year, and the energy transition became something important for the market.
Visibility was crucial for the supply chain to make decisions on processes, cost efficiency, pre-visibility, and better control. The role of technology and digitalization was important during this year so that the stakeholders could have visibility on how the supply chain was behaving with its rapid changes. And all these challenges were faced with resilient actions.
Trade lane
WCSA to Asia
- Cherry season out of Chile started, and volumes are expected to be strong; a trucker strike in Chile end of Nov put some challenges on the inland, but the strike ended
- Mineral market out of Mexico is still under pressure as the price for iron ore remains low
Demand Trend - stable in general; up for cherries
East Coast to Asia
Strong protein demand remains in Africa. Lower reefer demand in China until the end of this year due to high stock in China and low consumption in the Chinese market. But as of Q1, the expectation is to have a stronger demand.
Cotton to China is also expected to remain low for the coming months.
Due to the low consumption, they have high stocks in the country, and China's quota is also uncertainty.
Demand Trend - Stable
East Coast to Europe
High inflation and low consumption in Europe remain uncertain.
On reefer, customers are having problems with Egypt payment. The halal market (Middle East) is being shifted to African trade.
The cotton market has good expectations for the Middle East for the coming months.
Main port status
Key ports across the global network have made significant improvements in waiting time as a consequence of less congestion and a drop in volumes,
- In Northern Europe, the situation at ports remains stable; however, due to weather disruptions on the crossing, we should attempt line-up delays, mainly in Southampton, Antwerp, and Bremerhaven
- In Asia, the situation is stable, and the only port with experienced waiting time is Tauranga, where vessels can wait up to 2 days to get a space at the berth. Delays are mainly due to labor shortages and strong winds impacting vessel productivity and, consequently, delays to the port line-up.
- In Latin America, the situation related to weather disruption remains deteriorating the line up mainly in the Gulf of Mexico. The North Winds, common in that area from October up to March, are often causing port closure and line-up disruption. Waiting time in Veracruz and Altamira can reach up to 2 days.
- In North America, on the West Coast, the situation has a signal of improvement; waiting time in Oakland has reduced from 18 to 12 days; however situation with labor shortage remains. On East Coast, Savannah remains critical, and waiting time can reach 12 days. For the Canadian ports, Vancouver remains critical, with waiting time experienced up to 38 days.
Latin America
Less than 1 Day - SSA/ Manzanillo, Lazaro Cardenas, Moin, hubs (Balboa, MIT, PSA, Cristobal and Cartagena ), Buenaventura, Callao, Guayaquil, Valparaiso, San Antonio (Chile), Santos, Paranagua, Itajai, Itapoa, Paranagua, Buenos Aires, Montevideo.
1-3 Days - Veracruz, Altamira
Rest of World
Less than 1 Day - Singapore, Malaysia, Norfolk, Charleston, North Charleston, Jacksonville, Port Everglades, Tampa, Long Beach, Los Angeles
Tauranga, Philadelphia, Seattle, Miami, Freeport, Newark, Baltimore, New Orleans, Mobile, Antwerp,Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, London, Hamburg, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Busan, Ningbo, Yantian, Shangai, Prince Rupert (*)
More than 7 days - Vancouver, Savannah, Oakland, Houston (*)
(*) - cargo connections can be impacted considering the delays reported
Landside updates
Brazil: We are pleased to inform you that our project “Agua Branca Railway Terminal in São Paulo,” was the winner of the 2022 Abralog (Brazilian Logistics Association) award in the Intermodal category! This terminal offers our customers transportation between the Port of Santos and the metropolitan region of São Paulo via rail.
Air updates
ECSA: The resume of passenger planes with cargo option (PAX) provided more capacity, and the low perishable season countrywide has lowered the demand.
WCSA: Import demand has been lower than in previous years for retail, lifestyle, FMCG & tech due to available stocks. Regarding export, the Cherry season has been lower than expected due to the late harvest of the product, some rains that diminished the production and a lower sale rate in China.
MAA: Rates and capacity remain stable, in fact, it has been an atypical "Peak Season", with lower demand compared to previous years in some verticals such as lifestyle and retail.
CAR: CAR Area, mainly Colombia & Panama, extending passenger flight capacity due to travelers' peak season during December and January.
