Featured Headlines:
Shipping Soup for the Soul: A Condensed Stew for Every Palate
Legal Leaves Still Rustling with IEEPA Tariff Ruling on Hold
Mexico Issues New Export Permit Requirements for Select Goods
Panama's Caught in a Transcontinental Crosswind
Let’s Have a Dray Fray Play Day!
A Sporty Ports Reporty
- After sliding close to 13% in May, US import volumes are now surging at ports across the country—with Los Angeles/Long Beach (LA/LGB), ever the braggart, reporting nearly a doubling of volumes in just five weeks. Apparently, “these containers are multiplying like rabbits!” said Yanni Yard Guy at Yusen.
- Well, noble shippers, we are ALL in on the big (cringe) secret about what happens when volumes soar and pour onshore with the roar of the cranes!
- Elevated vessel dwell times and that uncomfy, embarrassing bunching.
- Extra loaders help there and hurt here. Bunching ALWAYS hurts.
- Rail “service” delays… why is the US so bad at intermodal rail?!
- More SoCal drama beyond Hollywood!
- Chassis imbalances… we’ve been living in over-supply, grrrrrrr!
- Street dwell is growing faster than street cred.
- You can’t front-load more than 11 times without running out of storage.
- Blank sailings may upset us at origin, but at least they keep vessels from re-stocking empty containers from the US (which clogs THE HELL out of our ports).
- Yanni reminds us that mice can reproduce faster than rabbits. Mice are ready for the honeymoon suite in 25 days and can conceive again 12 days after that happy day in the hospital! Terrifying!
- Anybody remember the argument that most East Coast ports are short on land? Anyone willing to admit it?! No Land + Mice + Rabbits = Cargo Infestation.
- Off-port depots and pop-up yards are often poorly integrated.
- Elevated vessel dwell times and that uncomfy, embarrassing bunching.
- Now, let’s whisper and gossip about some specific ports behind their backs:
- New York: Fahgettaboutit! Land Shortage + Rail Delays + Long Street Dwells = The Big Rotten Apple for shippers.
- LA/LGB: Don’t look, dahling! Extreme Intermodal Rail Dwell + LOTS of Rabbit Volume = The City of Angels is The City of Devils for shippers.
- Savannah: Y’all!! Empties (Mice) + Off-Port Depots + Funky Bunching = The Hostess City may just be the Ghost Us City for shippers.
- Like what you see? Then pretty please continue reading for a short piece on the lack of dray peace in the puzzle of US ports in our Domestic section!
Shipping Soup for the Soul: A Condensed Stew for Every Palate
- In the Red Sea, shipping traffic is making a cautious comeback!
- Since August 2024, daily volumes have climbed 60% and are now hovering around 36 to 37 ships per day, according to Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis of the EU’s Aspides Mission (a military operation to confront the Houthis).
- That’s a solid rebound from the lows of 20 to 23 ships during peak Houthi attacks—but still well short of the pre-conflict norm of 72 to 75 vessels a day.
- The improved flow follows a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and the last known attack on a commercial vessel was in November 2024.
- Gryparis says if your ship isn’t Israeli-linked or hasn’t recently called at an Israeli port, your odds of being targeted are “more than 99%” in your flavor…err, we mean favor. Don’t forget the soup metaphor, weary readers!
- While traffic in the Red Sea simmers, COSCO is cooking up something new on the South Atlantic.
- The Chinese giant just launched a multipurpose service between major Chinese ports and Brazil, dubbed the “BRICS Express.” We prefer BRICS bisque, ourselves!
- The service features over 40 massive pulp carriers (20 of them clocking in at 77,000 dwt) and promises 30-day transits between exotic tastes and lands like Qingdao and Salvador. Will that be Rooster Mushroom or Moqueca?!
- It serves as an express lane for savory bilateral trade—and a reminder that not all trade lanes are on pause, some remain “just right” not too hot or too cold!
- Meanwhile, the shipbuilding sector is going through a dry spell, especially in dry bulk.
- Global newbuild orders are down 50% year-on-year for the first five months of 2025, with Drewry calling the current levels “historic lows.”
- Stew on these culprits: Weak freight rates, regulatory haze, Trump’s tariff threats, and a general case of “let’s wait and see.”
- To stretch for a dry soup metaphor, we must travel to Spain where they invented the delicacy known as Sopa Seca, a noodle soup you cook until the liquid dissipates in a sensual steam that brings good luck to all seafarers (maybe).
Legal Leaves Still Rustling with IEEPA Tariff Ruling on Hold
- The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff saga just got a new branch to climb!
- The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has gone out on a limb and extended its stay on the Court of International Trade’s (CIT) May 28th ruling—which means Customs will continue collecting the so-called fentanyl and reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports for now.
- The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments for July 31, 2025 at 10:00 a.m., and is working with both sides to lock in a briefing timeline accordingly. Click here to read the full opinion.
- What does this mean for you? In short: no refunds yet; and the tariff meter keeps ticking while the legal treehouse gets its day in court.
- For now, all you can do is try to sit back and enjoy that summer breeze while the experts debate the fate of freight with an official freeze in duty fees… (say that ten times fast!).
- Learn more about the ongoing situation here: Trump’s Trade Tariff Updates
Mexico Issues New Export Permit Requirements for Select Goods
- Last week, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy published an “export-ant” update that impacts a wide range of outbound shipments.
- Here’s what exporters need to know:
- New Requirement: As of July 7, 2025, certain goods will require an Automatic Export Notice (Aviso Automático de Exportación) before leaving Mexico. According to officials, the primary purpose of this is to improve data collection on Mexican exports.
- Permit Process: Exporters must submit a request to the Ministry of Economy. If all requirements are met, the notice (similar to a permit) will be issued within ten (10) business days.
- Covered Commodities: The rule applies to 30 HS codes, including but not limited to:
- Automotive parts
- Air conditioning units
- Household refrigerators
- Medical and electronic apparatus
- Beer, tequila, and unwrought silver
- Effective Date: While originally scheduled to take effect on June 4, the compliance date has been updated to July 7, 2025.
- Additional details can be found in the Official Publication (DOF) and Updated Enforcement Notice.
- Need help navigating Mexico’s evolving export requirements? Shapiro’s compliance experts are here to support your documentation, permit, and regulatory needs. Reach out to us at [email protected] for tailored guidance and proactive solutions.
Panama's Caught in a Transcontinental Crosswind
- The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) is not exactly shipping sunshine with its $23 billion deal to sell 43 global terminals, including two located in Panama, from CK Hutchison to a power duo: MSC subsidiaries and BlackRock. The fear? One shipping giant could soon be calling a few too many shots.
- Based in Hong Kong, CK Hutchison currently operates two of the five ports neighboring the canal. While Chinese regulators still need to approve the deal; Panama is already stuck between two global powers like a container ship wedged sideways in the Suez (…that pun was an Ever Given…).
- Now, Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez is sounding the foghorn, warning that this kind of mega-merger could leave MSC’s competitors stuck in the slow lane—and leave Panama’s prized neutrality somewhere in the crosswinds.
- President Trump has weighed in (yet again), calling Chinese influence near the canal a national security issue and floating the idea of the U.S. “taking back” the canal.
- Meanwhile, Maersk has jumped into the fray, acquiring the railway that runs parallel to the canal. According to Vásquez, the region is becoming a full-blown “battleground on trans-shipment capacity.”
- Rather than letting MSC and Maersk corner the sandbox, the PCA may revive long-standing plans to build a container terminal at the Port of Corozal.
- As if things weren’t spicy enough, the U.S. has asked Panama to let government vessels through the canal toll-free. Vásquez’s reply? “Free is not an option as presented.”
Let’s Have a Dray Fray Play Day!
- We examined the extreme likelihood of port congestion in our feature article (A Sporty Ports Reporty), so let’s label this a short film! How well equipped (pun intended) is the drayage sector to weather a tide surge of cargo?
- Fairly terribly! Hey, we TOLD you it was a short!
- Okay, okay…let’s breakdown today’s dray market:
- Hurt by immigration restrictions. It is estimated that about one third of US dray operators are first generation immigrants.
- Job dissatisfaction. In ports with chronic congestion, drivers are limited in the number of turns per day, and THAT is the key for getting paid. (We need a better system, but we shippers don’t want to pay for it!) NY is the poster child here. Worker dissatisfaction is a short step to worker shortage.
- The owner-operator pool of drayage providers is down as much as 50% since COVID. This relates partly to increased regulation and partly to market investment fueled by COVID returns. Owner-operators create tremendous labor fluidity, and we’ll miss that in 2025.
- The difference between turn times of two hours and four hours is HUGE! A time shift of just two hours means cutting the number of possible container moves in half. Bad for happy drivers AND very bad for yard congestion.
- Increased split pick-ups and split returns. When the land is scarce, they pile up chassis and empties off-port, and the dray guys wait, wait, and wait!
- Aging workforce coupled with the lack of reliable pipelines for new talent. Need we say more?
- Before we all take a much-needed nap to deal with such a discouraging short film, kindly remember that it is hurricane season. Many of you will be naming your children Andrea, Barry, and Chantal this year—and the rest of you will get sick of hearing about these brats and their fits, starts, crescendos, and miles per hour!
- Why in the (blank sailing) are you mentioning hurricanes? After any major storm, emergency supplies, equipment, and consumables are transported to the affected region. This takes truck drivers, and the wages are good and come with overtime! Dray folk will be tempted by that greener (more plentiful) grass.
- The good news for all of us is that overall cargo volumes grew slowly but steadily in 2024, and we have all grown used to the lurching surges and dips of 2025. We are big fans of the drayage industry, and those hard-working rascals will do their best!
