US Economy Entering a New Chapter
With a stronger dollar & a weaker Euro a shift is happening, which will impact the US manufacturers' exports. As our goods become less competitive, our overseas buyers / importers are beginning to switch from US suppliers to Europeans' ones. Forwarders, carriers will be part of the down cycle affecting the volume of shipments for exports. In this down cycle, it is good to remember that manufacturers will most likely hire less & lay off more.
The upside
You will be able to travel abroad & get more than you would have several months ago. The domestic products will increase & foreign investments will rein in. Higher dollar will mean more imports from Europe, Asia & South America. And so, shipments coming into the USA will somewhat counter balance the losses from our exports.
The downside
Our interest rate will go up, buying home will slowdown. It is likely that prices for domestic goods will rise. Shipping wise, imports for forwarders do not carry the same margins as export shipments. The LA / Long Beach ports may still be negotiating with work slowdown & our infra-structure at the ports need badly automation. That is bad news for the longshoreman & warehouse union that abused the system & precipitated this issue upon their own by becoming non-competitive.
The equalization
What goes up must go down & vice & versa. The happy exporters will lose a smile to a grin just when the importers will lose a grin to a smile again. Forwarders may smile less & grin more... You got the jest.
Meanwhile, Zim Line is passing down the following information:
Daytime quayside shifts resume on US west coast as talks continue
HAVING already halted night time ship unloading, US west coast waterfront employers stopped calling for dayside gangs for a single shift before resuming half-day vessel discharge, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce. The reason, say the employers of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), is that there were too many containers in the yard so there was little point in adding to their number until enough were taken away. This is because the Dockers union will not dispatch enough yard crane men to disperse the boxes to truckers and railway freight handlers. The PMA says the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has only been dispatching 35 yard crane men a day when 110 are needed. But the Dockers of the ILWU say that the employers are disingenuous and that the real problem is the lack of chassis that can be used to take cargo away. What's more, they say, refusing to unload ships only increases the pile-up in the outer harbor.
Nine containerships were at anchor in Los Angeles-Long Beach, which is the same number that were waiting on Monday. ILWU-inspired slowdowns have been reported in Seattle, Tacoma and Oakland, as well as a refusal by the union to dispatch yard crane drivers in LA-Long Beach, said PMA spokesman Steve Getzug. Terminal operators have not opened their facilities at night for several weeks in Seattle, Tacoma and for the past two weeks in Oakland. Contract talks, now under the auspices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service between the ILWU and PMA continue. Chassis maintenance and repair jurisdiction is the current issue with longshoremen wanting to remain in charge of the work. Now that shipping lines no longer provide chassis as they once did, the service is now provided by truckers who want little to do with longshoremen's union. Talks began on May 12, and the contract expired on July 1.
LA-Long Beach makes contingency plans for anchorage congestion
THE Vessel Traffic Service of Los Angeles and Long Beach (VTS) has advised of contingency plans in the case that all the ports' anchorages fill up, reports GAC Hot Port News With container backup yards filling, terminal operators of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) have decided to slow down the unloading of ships, which lengthens the queue of ships awaiting berths. "Contingency anchorages will be opened up if all the regular anchorages become fully occupied," said the VTS. "If these also fill up, pre-planned drift boxes offshore - which were used during the congestion experienced at the ports in 2004 - will be made available. "This comes after US west coast marine terminals' announcement that they would suspend vessel operations to concentrate on clearing containers from the dangerously congested facilities. Marine terminals continue to experience severe congestion, which the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) says is a result of on-going International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) slowdowns.
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