General Notes:
The ILWU (west coast dock workers) has not come to an agreement with the PMA. The ILWU contract expired July 1, 2022. To date there has been no talk of a strike, with both sides working to negotiate a new contract.
There was a work slowdown / stoppage over Easter Weekend, April 6-9, 2023. The union pulled labor from the port forcing a temporary shutdown.
The port was back to normal on Monday April 10.
Contract negotiations are still ongoing at the start of May.
At the start of May we see that all US ports are operating with minimal delays, and minimal vessels waiting.
Savannah, GA is the only possible exception with 6 vessels waiting.
Imports Shifting Coast: An interesting read from Descartes, their extrapolation indicates as many as 1m TEUs (20’ equivalent units) will shift from the west coast to the east and gulf coast this year.
Fuel Updates:
Ocean Fuel (VLSFO) had been trending down through Q3 and Q4, the price was volatile throughout Q1, at the start of May it is down roughly 15% since January.
This fuel type is up roughly 25% over its 2019/2020 levels.
Diesel in the USA as the start of April is $4.01 a gallon (California is $0.89 more per gallon)
Diesel is still currently near its all-time high price. This continues to keep freight prices high.
Additionally, average diesel prices reported by EIA.gov are typically lower than truck stop prices, and are average across large sections of the country.
The PDF below is port-by-port review across the U.S. in 2023 compared to 2022 & 2021.
