U.S. Port & Logistics Review, June 2025
- Maggie Mildenberger
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Key Takeaways
Ports in Asia & Around the World
Several ports around the globe are experiencing delays currently.
Most notably ports in Asia are experiencing delays that can range from 1 day to several days.
Keep in close communication with your vendors and logistics providers to understand impacts to your projects.
U.S. Ports
The ports are operating normally, with minimal to no backlog.
Over the next few weeks, the US ports could see a large number of imports arrive, as imports take advantage of the 90-day reduced tariff window.
See map under “Suez Canal” each arrow or dot is a container vessel inbound to the USA.
U.S. Tariffs
Most foreign origins are being assessed a 10% tariff in addition to the normal tariff for the item being imported.
Steel and aluminum goods are assessed a 25% tariff
De minimis ended May 2
Chinese imports are being assessed a 30% tariff in addition to the normal tariff for the item being imported
Ocean vessel schedule reliability is hovering around 55% going into 2025. This represents a drop from 2023, where reliability was near 65%. It is also a large drop from 2019 and prior, which saw reliability averaging 75%+.
For US imports expect minimal delays on average 1-3 days.
Booking delays in Asia could be as high as 2 weeks.
Container Logistics
Container Costs
Container costs fell at the start of 2025 and were flat through weeks 12 - 21. We have seen rates increase about 15% in the past few weeks, following the 90-day reduced tariff window.
Overall rates are still lower than most of 2024, but still higher than 2023 and pre-2020.
Suez Canal and the Red Sea
Starting in November 2023 most long-range steamship lines avoiding this area. Local traffic is continuing to use the canal.
Overall volume through the canal is down over 50% compared to this time last year.
Vessels inbound to the USA are continuing to route around Africa (Cape of Good Hope), which increases transit time by roughly a week.
US Port and Overland Overview
Fuel Updates
Ocean Fuel (VLSFO) held its price in May, with its current price matching the latter half of 2024.
Compared to 2021 and prior the cost is still up 50% +
Diesel in the USA as the start of June is $3.48 a gallon.
Diesel is still roughly 20% higher than 2019 levels, which is keeping freight prices elevated.
Additionally, average diesel prices reported by EIA.gov are typically lower than truck stop prices, and are average across large sections of the country.
National FTL rates are steady going into 2025, though elevated from 2019 levels.
FTL rates out of Southern California may start to decrease based on container imports fluctuating.
LTL and small package rates have continued to rise, due to the nature of how those networks function.
Data Analysis
April container imports increased over March, in line with normal yearly expectations following Chinese New Year / TET.
April 2025 represented an 9% increase over April 2024 – and was the 2nd busiest April on record.
The first 4 months of 2025 collective show 8.6% growth in imports over 2024
The west coast ports barely edged out the east coast ports in April.
The PDF below is port-by-port review across the U.S. in June 2025 compared to 2024 & 2023.
