On Nov 2, several terminals at the Port of Oakland were shut down because of unexpected labour action. Rather than a union-wide effort, this job action was taken from the local chapter of ILWU Local 34 and targeted the terminals that move goods internationally.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) was held in Egypt in November 2022, with the ambitious goal of tackling the global challenge of climate change. From COP27, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reiterated a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships by 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050. Canada highlighted its pledge to work with the IMO to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. There is still a long way to decarbonisation in international shipping, but we are seeing global cooperation and progress.

North American demand for Asian imports continues to decline due to fears of an economic recession and inventory corrections by retailers. This has caused an increase in idle ships and blank sailings, as shipping companies remove capacity and attempt to keep rates up.

Major supply chain disruptions in the last two years prompted the appointment of the National Supply Chain Task Force, who’s mandate was to provide independent advice to the Minister of Transport on how to ensure that Canada’s supply chain is resilient and fluid.

BNSF Railway recently announced plans to build Barstow International Gateway (BIG), which could transform the Southern California intermodal picture. The $1.5 billion BIG project will be a 4,100-acre facility that includes a rail yard, intermodal terminal, and transload warehouses. It will be located 130 freeway miles away from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, in the city of Barstow, California.

Several ocean carriers are cutting some of their trans-Pacific services in response to a drop in demand and falling ocean spot rates. Mediterranean Shipping Co., Maersk, and CMA CGM are cutting one post-Panamax service and two Panamax services. Some smaller lines are also pulling trans-Pacific services.

There’s a backlog of marine containers at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert. CN is helping to relieve this backlog by moving containers to their auxiliary storage yards in eastern Canada.

Air Canada Cargo launched a new service out of St. John’s international airport (YYT) which started Oct 1, 2022. Canada’s largest air cargo provider will operate its Boeing 767 freights five times a week with two non-stop flights to Frankfurt and three non-stop flights to Madrid. This is Canada’s only carrier to have a scheduled cargo service connecting St. John’s to Europe and will provide a boost to Newfoundland and Labrador’s economy.

Shippers are finally experiencing some price relief from trucking costs. The US producer price indexes (PPIs) show that less-than-truckload (LTL) rates dropped 4.7% in August and truckload (TL) rates dropped 1.5%. Even with consecutive monthly decreases, LTL and TL rates are still up by 14.1% and 22% respectively from 2021. Industry experts say that the PPIs point to a market correction in LTL and TL rates, rather than a collapse.

Chinese authorities closed the northeastern ports of Qingdao and Dalian last Thursday, ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Muifa. This followed the one-day closure of the ports of Shanghai and Ninbo last Wednesday, which were also impacted by the typhoon.

Central American and Caribbean ports are facing tight vessel capacity, schedule disruptions, and labour shortages due to COVID-19. Some shippers are facing up to four weeks of delays, as they wait for their cargo to be moved from one vessel to another while in transit to its final destination.  

Production of grain in Canada has a strong outlook for 2022, especially after a severe drought devastated last year’s harvest. Canola is Canada’s second biggest winter crop, and this season’s production is expected to be 46% higher than last year’s harvest.

A potential strike was averted last week as a last-minute deal was reached between U.S. railroads and 60,000 rail employees. The Biden administration helped to broker a tentative deal after 20 hours of intense talks, preventing a work stoppage that would have been a major hit to the U.S. economy already struggling with high inflation, a labour shortage, and supply-chain disruptions. The new contracts give rail employees a 24 percent wage increase between 2020 to 2024.

Sluggish global demand, market uncertainy from the Ukraine war, and Covid controls are creating challenges for China’s factories. As China’s economy struggles to recover, many factories in China’s manufacturing hub of Dongguan are scaling down or closing. In August, China’s exports to the United States fell for the first time in two years and manufacturers cut jobs for the fifth straight month, leaving many migrant workers unemployed.

The price of goods manufacturing in Canada has declined for three straight months, according to the Conference Board of Canada. The main reason is because both global shipping costs and delivery times declined in that time, meaning that long-lasting supply chain challenges through COVID-19 are finally starting to dissipate.

Halifax Stanfield Air Cargo Logistics Park (ACLP) has officially opened, making it Atlantic Canada’s largest air cargo processing facility. The $36 million project was funded by the Government of Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund ($18 million), the Halifax International Airport Authority ($13 million), and the Government of Nova Scotia ($5 million).

According to IATA World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), overall global air cargo volume increased by 18.7% in 2021, after a decline of 10.6% in 2020 and an increase of 6.9% in the pre-Covid year of 2019.

Inland rail congestion in the United States is impacting the number of import containers moved by rail from Los Angeles-Long Beach. In 2019, 67.9% of imports to LA-LB were moved by rail. Between January to April this year, the number has dropped to 40.8%.

The merger between Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) is one step closer to completion, as it recently received clearance from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment. The deal isn’t done yet, as it still requires approval from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, which expects to complete its review in early 2023. Mexican regulators have already given their approval.