Epoxy

January 20, 2022

Import Update

Imports Take “Dramatically Longer” To Reach US As Bottlenecks Bite

by Tyler DurdenThursday, Jan 20, 2022 – 08:59 AM

By Greg Miller of FreightWaves,

Planning to import goods from Asia by ocean and sell them in America this summer? Better act fast. The trans-Pacific cargo move can now take over three months. According to multiple sources, average transit times have risen to double pre-COVID levels — and they’re still increasing.

Methodologies and data sources differ, so time estimates vary. But each dataset shows the same trend: With every passing month, more vessels, container equipment and goods inventories are getting waylaid in the Pacific.

Flexport

Flexport launched its weekly Ocean Timeliness Indicator (OTI) in early December. The OTI uses data from Flexport’s freight forwarding customers back to March 2019, measuring the time from the cargo-ready date at the exporters’ gate to the date when products leave the destination port (i.e., the landside transport time from the factory to the port in Asia, the Asian port wait, the ocean journey, and the North American port wait). The OTI is an average for loads from all Asian countries to all North American ports on any of the three coasts.

Flexport’s Asia-U.S. OTI reached an all-time high of 114 days last week. That’s 41 days or 57% higher than at the same time last year, and 63 days or 125% higher than at the same time in 2020, pre-COVID.

A shipment time is not included in the average until the import cargo leaves the U.S. port, meaning the indicator is retrospective. Goods included in the average in the first week of January might have left an Asian factory in early October, at a time when the queue of waiting ships off Los Angeles/Long Beach was around 40% smaller than it is now.

Phil Levy, chief economist of Flexport, explained the value of the OTI in an interview with American Shipper. “It does speak in terms of days, and in that sense it’s supposed to give a general idea of the magnitude shippers have to deal with. But it’s not a precise, forward-looking estimate of how long it will take you to get from your factory in Vietnam to Vancouver, for example.

“This is intended as a straightforward and transparent measure of how severe the crisis is,” he said. “You see a lot of things that jump around and other fleeting measures. You might say, ‘Hey, I got a great spot rate out of Yantian so I guess the crisis is over’ or ‘There was stuff on the shelves when I went shopping yesterday so I think we must be OK.’ But the OTI is something that is fairly consistent, you can see it over time, and you can see the degree of variability over time. You can see that these are dramatically longer times than we’ve had before — and they haven’t backed off yet.

“Let’s suppose the supply chain fairy waved a wand and solved all of these problems and we went right back to the old shipping times of the pre-COVID era again. What would the ‘all clear’ look like? You wouldn’t see an immediate drop because it would take awhile for things to sort out [due to the OTI’s retrospective nature]. But you should start to see this trending down as each stage [Asia factory to ships/ocean/U.S. port] moves faster. And we haven’t seen that yet. If this resolves, you should see something very different here.”

Freightos

Another measure of trans-Pacific shipping duration is produced by Freightos. It uses data since October 2019 from bookings on its Freightos.com marketplace, including both full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL) business.

The average monthly transit time is measured from China to U.S. ports, with the majority going to the West Coast ports. The delivery times are measured on an end-to-end basis, generally warehouse to warehouse.

Freightos calculated that it took an average of 80 days in December for trans-Pacific cargo, with FCL at 72 days and LCL at 82 days. The average transit time is 51% or 27 days higher than in December 2020 and 86% or 37 days longer than in December 2019, pre-COVID.

Shifl

Yet another dataset is produced by Shifl. This data tracks the ocean transit time of ships from when they leave major Chinese ports (Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Yantian) to their arrival in Los Angeles/Long Beach.

As of the first half of December, Shifl calculated that the transit time was 34 days, more than double the pre-COVID average of 16 days and about two weeks more than transit times in the middle of last year.

Sea-Intelligence

The second-half rise in the measures published by Shifl, Freightos and Flexport mirror the increasing number of container ships waiting offshore for berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach. According to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California, an all-time high 105 container ships were waiting for berths on Thursday and Friday, with 103 waiting as of Tuesday.

The difference between the on-the-water data from Shifl and the end-to-end data from Flexport and Freightos confirms how much time is being lost at terminals on either side of the ocean.

Sea-Intelligence has developed an index, using data from carrier HMM, to quantify the level of terminal congestion on the North American side of the equation. That  index has doubled over the past year. 

Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence, warned this week: “It seems that there is no sign of imminent improvement. All available data shows that congestion and bottleneck problems are worsening.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/imports-take-dramatically-longer-reach-us-bottlenecks-bite

January 20, 2022

Import Update

Imports Take “Dramatically Longer” To Reach US As Bottlenecks Bite

by Tyler DurdenThursday, Jan 20, 2022 – 08:59 AM

By Greg Miller of FreightWaves,

Planning to import goods from Asia by ocean and sell them in America this summer? Better act fast. The trans-Pacific cargo move can now take over three months. According to multiple sources, average transit times have risen to double pre-COVID levels — and they’re still increasing.

Methodologies and data sources differ, so time estimates vary. But each dataset shows the same trend: With every passing month, more vessels, container equipment and goods inventories are getting waylaid in the Pacific.

Flexport

Flexport launched its weekly Ocean Timeliness Indicator (OTI) in early December. The OTI uses data from Flexport’s freight forwarding customers back to March 2019, measuring the time from the cargo-ready date at the exporters’ gate to the date when products leave the destination port (i.e., the landside transport time from the factory to the port in Asia, the Asian port wait, the ocean journey, and the North American port wait). The OTI is an average for loads from all Asian countries to all North American ports on any of the three coasts.

Flexport’s Asia-U.S. OTI reached an all-time high of 114 days last week. That’s 41 days or 57% higher than at the same time last year, and 63 days or 125% higher than at the same time in 2020, pre-COVID.

A shipment time is not included in the average until the import cargo leaves the U.S. port, meaning the indicator is retrospective. Goods included in the average in the first week of January might have left an Asian factory in early October, at a time when the queue of waiting ships off Los Angeles/Long Beach was around 40% smaller than it is now.

Phil Levy, chief economist of Flexport, explained the value of the OTI in an interview with American Shipper. “It does speak in terms of days, and in that sense it’s supposed to give a general idea of the magnitude shippers have to deal with. But it’s not a precise, forward-looking estimate of how long it will take you to get from your factory in Vietnam to Vancouver, for example.

“This is intended as a straightforward and transparent measure of how severe the crisis is,” he said. “You see a lot of things that jump around and other fleeting measures. You might say, ‘Hey, I got a great spot rate out of Yantian so I guess the crisis is over’ or ‘There was stuff on the shelves when I went shopping yesterday so I think we must be OK.’ But the OTI is something that is fairly consistent, you can see it over time, and you can see the degree of variability over time. You can see that these are dramatically longer times than we’ve had before — and they haven’t backed off yet.

“Let’s suppose the supply chain fairy waved a wand and solved all of these problems and we went right back to the old shipping times of the pre-COVID era again. What would the ‘all clear’ look like? You wouldn’t see an immediate drop because it would take awhile for things to sort out [due to the OTI’s retrospective nature]. But you should start to see this trending down as each stage [Asia factory to ships/ocean/U.S. port] moves faster. And we haven’t seen that yet. If this resolves, you should see something very different here.”

Freightos

Another measure of trans-Pacific shipping duration is produced by Freightos. It uses data since October 2019 from bookings on its Freightos.com marketplace, including both full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL) business.

The average monthly transit time is measured from China to U.S. ports, with the majority going to the West Coast ports. The delivery times are measured on an end-to-end basis, generally warehouse to warehouse.

Freightos calculated that it took an average of 80 days in December for trans-Pacific cargo, with FCL at 72 days and LCL at 82 days. The average transit time is 51% or 27 days higher than in December 2020 and 86% or 37 days longer than in December 2019, pre-COVID.

Shifl

Yet another dataset is produced by Shifl. This data tracks the ocean transit time of ships from when they leave major Chinese ports (Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Yantian) to their arrival in Los Angeles/Long Beach.

As of the first half of December, Shifl calculated that the transit time was 34 days, more than double the pre-COVID average of 16 days and about two weeks more than transit times in the middle of last year.

Sea-Intelligence

The second-half rise in the measures published by Shifl, Freightos and Flexport mirror the increasing number of container ships waiting offshore for berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach. According to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California, an all-time high 105 container ships were waiting for berths on Thursday and Friday, with 103 waiting as of Tuesday.

The difference between the on-the-water data from Shifl and the end-to-end data from Flexport and Freightos confirms how much time is being lost at terminals on either side of the ocean.

Sea-Intelligence has developed an index, using data from carrier HMM, to quantify the level of terminal congestion on the North American side of the equation. That  index has doubled over the past year. 

Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence, warned this week: “It seems that there is no sign of imminent improvement. All available data shows that congestion and bottleneck problems are worsening.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/imports-take-dramatically-longer-reach-us-bottlenecks-bite

January 20, 2022

Chinese Olympics Shutdown Update

Burst! Nearly 10,000 Chemical Plants Shut Down! “Suspension” Comes Anytime!

ECHEMI 2022-01-20

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that in order to ensure the safe and smooth holding of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, maintain the order of radio waves in venues and special control areas, and ensure the normal use of various types of radio equipment used for event business, the decision was made. During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, radio control will be implemented in parts of Beijing and Hebei Province. It is also clarified that those who violate the provisions of this notice shall be handled by the radio management agency in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state and this city; if a crime is constituted, it shall be transferred to the judicial organ for criminal responsibility according to law.

In addition to the regulation of radio, other industries have recently expressed that they have received “control notices”. A chemical company in Shandong responded that it received an oral notice from a superior to stop production from January 30 to February 20 and from March 4 to March 13 this year. The paint procurement network has communicated and verified with many chemical companies and found that this is not an isolated case. Many chemical companies in Hebei, Henan and other regions said that they have been notified that they are about to stop production.

The reasons for the shutdown of production are basically the same for all companies. Winter is the heating season, and it is prone to frequent heavy pollution. Therefore, the situation of staggered peak shutdown and production restrictions persists. In addition, some companies said that companies with boilers must stop production, which is equivalent to “seal” for chemical companies.

Chemical companies are no strangers to production suspensions and production restrictions. In 2021, chemical companies have experienced shutdowns due to the epidemic, dual control of energy consumption and production restrictions, environmental protection shutdown orders during the heating season, and multiple rounds of emergency response in heavily polluted weather. Production is discontinued. I finally got through 2021 and ushered in 2022. I didn’t expect to encounter many obstacles in the beginning of the year. The overseas epidemic has invaded, and the delivery of high-end imported raw materials has been delayed. Due to the epidemic, many places in China have closed high-speed entrances and exits, temporary traffic control, and enterprises have stopped work and production. Some chemical companies were planning to close the holiday early, but they did not expect to receive a notice before the holiday, and arranged to stop work for two months after the year, which made many chemical workers lament.


Tens of thousands of chemical companies may be affected, and a variety of chemical products are facing “out of stock”!

Once production is stopped and restricted, the inventory in the market will definitely be affected. So, what chemical products will be affected by the suspension of production and production in the above major chemical provinces? According to incomplete statistics from the Paint Purchasing Network, Shandong, Henan, and Hebei are all important chemical towns, and there are many industrial chains of chemical products.

Shandong: There are more than 7,700 chemical enterprises, and the output of many chemical sectors ranks first in the country

Shandong is a major chemical province, and the total chemical economy has ranked first in the country for 28 consecutive years. The chemical products of national key statistics are all distributed, forming the “seven major sectors” industrial system of refining, chemical fertilizer, inorganic chemical, organic chemical, rubber processing, fine chemical, and synthetic materials, and the output of key chemical products ranks in the forefront of the country. At present, there are 84 chemical parks in Shandong, with more than 7,700 chemical enterprises.

From the perspective of supply, the output of chemical products in Shandong Province accounts for a high proportion of the country, and it is concentrated in traditional industries such as chlor-alkali, plastics, and fertilizers. The output of crude oil processing, tires, fertilizers, pesticides, caustic soda and other products ranks among the top in the country. From the perspective of industrial classification, Shandong’s oil refining (including refining and chemical integrated enterprises) and chemical (including petrochemical, coal chemical, salt chemical, tire, new materials, fine chemical) enterprises have relatively large production capacity.

Local companies include Sinopec, Wanhua Chemical, Hengli Petrochemical, Rongsheng Petrochemical, Enjie, Baofeng Energy, China Jushi, Hualu Hengsheng, Tinci Materials, Dongming Petrochemical, Lihuayi, Haike Group, Jingbo Group, Qilu Petrochemical, Luxi Chemical, Lubei Chemical, Shida Shenghua, Qixiang Tengda.


Henan: more than 2,000 well-known chemical companies, including petrochemical and coking industry chains

Henan Province includes 47 chemical industry parks (including chemical industry agglomeration areas, chemical industry characteristic industrial parks, professional chemical industry parks, etc.) and more than 2,000 well-known chemical enterprises. Mainly in petrochemical, coking-based. Henan Province proposes to build a nationally important 500 billion-level modern industrial cluster by 2025. Cultivate industrial chains of hundreds of billions of dollars such as modern coal chemical industry and high-end petrochemical industry, develop characteristic industrial chains such as chlor-alkali chemical industry, fluorine chemical industry, functional materials, etc., accelerate the transformation of traditional chemical industry to fine chemical industry, and improve the intrinsic safety and green level of the chemical industry.

Well-known chemical companies in Henan include Longbai Group, Shenma Co., Ltd., Polyfluoride, Ruifeng New Materials, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, Henan Energy Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Haohua Yuhang Chemical Co., Ltd., etc.

Hebei: more than 2,200 well-known chemical companies, with a wide distribution of salt chemical and fine chemical industry chains.


Hebei Province is an important chemical base in China. The top 500 chemical companies account for about 8% of the country’s total, second only to Shandong Province and Jiangsu Province. Including 19 chemical parks and more than 2,200 well-known chemical companies.

Hebei Province has formed an industrial system focusing on oil and gas exploration, oil refining, coal chemical industry, salt chemical industry and fine chemical industry. The output of caustic soda accounts for about 4% of the national output, and the output of soda ash accounts for more than 12% of the national output. Well-known chemical companies include Sanyou Chemical, Longxing Chemical, Jizhong Energy, Cangzhou Dahua, Jianxin Co., Ltd. and Kailuan Co., Ltd.

It is not difficult to see that there are more than 10,000 well-known chemical companies in the above regions, covering Wanhua Chemical, Hengli Petrochemical, Luxi Chemical, Shida Shenghua, Qixiang Tengda, Longbai Group, Shenma, Dofluoroduo, Sanyou Chemical, Cangzhou Dahua and many other well-known chemical companies. Although the local listed chemical companies have not yet issued an announcement on the suspension of production and production, the “all factories shut down” and “all those with boilers” mentioned by local companies have obviously brought anxiety to many companies.


As the Spring Festival is approaching, more and more companies are beginning to take holidays, but no one can say with certainty when they can resume work after the festival, or when they will resume production at full capacity. That is to say, large factories in these areas will face the dilemma of shutting down production, and the market inventory of chemical products in the coal chemical, petrochemical, coking refining and fine chemical industry chains will all have the risk of sharp decline. A wave of out-of-stocks.

https://www.echemi.com/cms/470674.html

January 20, 2022

Chinese Olympics Shutdown Update

Burst! Nearly 10,000 Chemical Plants Shut Down! “Suspension” Comes Anytime!

ECHEMI 2022-01-20

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that in order to ensure the safe and smooth holding of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, maintain the order of radio waves in venues and special control areas, and ensure the normal use of various types of radio equipment used for event business, the decision was made. During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, radio control will be implemented in parts of Beijing and Hebei Province. It is also clarified that those who violate the provisions of this notice shall be handled by the radio management agency in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state and this city; if a crime is constituted, it shall be transferred to the judicial organ for criminal responsibility according to law.

In addition to the regulation of radio, other industries have recently expressed that they have received “control notices”. A chemical company in Shandong responded that it received an oral notice from a superior to stop production from January 30 to February 20 and from March 4 to March 13 this year. The paint procurement network has communicated and verified with many chemical companies and found that this is not an isolated case. Many chemical companies in Hebei, Henan and other regions said that they have been notified that they are about to stop production.

The reasons for the shutdown of production are basically the same for all companies. Winter is the heating season, and it is prone to frequent heavy pollution. Therefore, the situation of staggered peak shutdown and production restrictions persists. In addition, some companies said that companies with boilers must stop production, which is equivalent to “seal” for chemical companies.

Chemical companies are no strangers to production suspensions and production restrictions. In 2021, chemical companies have experienced shutdowns due to the epidemic, dual control of energy consumption and production restrictions, environmental protection shutdown orders during the heating season, and multiple rounds of emergency response in heavily polluted weather. Production is discontinued. I finally got through 2021 and ushered in 2022. I didn’t expect to encounter many obstacles in the beginning of the year. The overseas epidemic has invaded, and the delivery of high-end imported raw materials has been delayed. Due to the epidemic, many places in China have closed high-speed entrances and exits, temporary traffic control, and enterprises have stopped work and production. Some chemical companies were planning to close the holiday early, but they did not expect to receive a notice before the holiday, and arranged to stop work for two months after the year, which made many chemical workers lament.


Tens of thousands of chemical companies may be affected, and a variety of chemical products are facing “out of stock”!

Once production is stopped and restricted, the inventory in the market will definitely be affected. So, what chemical products will be affected by the suspension of production and production in the above major chemical provinces? According to incomplete statistics from the Paint Purchasing Network, Shandong, Henan, and Hebei are all important chemical towns, and there are many industrial chains of chemical products.

Shandong: There are more than 7,700 chemical enterprises, and the output of many chemical sectors ranks first in the country

Shandong is a major chemical province, and the total chemical economy has ranked first in the country for 28 consecutive years. The chemical products of national key statistics are all distributed, forming the “seven major sectors” industrial system of refining, chemical fertilizer, inorganic chemical, organic chemical, rubber processing, fine chemical, and synthetic materials, and the output of key chemical products ranks in the forefront of the country. At present, there are 84 chemical parks in Shandong, with more than 7,700 chemical enterprises.

From the perspective of supply, the output of chemical products in Shandong Province accounts for a high proportion of the country, and it is concentrated in traditional industries such as chlor-alkali, plastics, and fertilizers. The output of crude oil processing, tires, fertilizers, pesticides, caustic soda and other products ranks among the top in the country. From the perspective of industrial classification, Shandong’s oil refining (including refining and chemical integrated enterprises) and chemical (including petrochemical, coal chemical, salt chemical, tire, new materials, fine chemical) enterprises have relatively large production capacity.

Local companies include Sinopec, Wanhua Chemical, Hengli Petrochemical, Rongsheng Petrochemical, Enjie, Baofeng Energy, China Jushi, Hualu Hengsheng, Tinci Materials, Dongming Petrochemical, Lihuayi, Haike Group, Jingbo Group, Qilu Petrochemical, Luxi Chemical, Lubei Chemical, Shida Shenghua, Qixiang Tengda.


Henan: more than 2,000 well-known chemical companies, including petrochemical and coking industry chains

Henan Province includes 47 chemical industry parks (including chemical industry agglomeration areas, chemical industry characteristic industrial parks, professional chemical industry parks, etc.) and more than 2,000 well-known chemical enterprises. Mainly in petrochemical, coking-based. Henan Province proposes to build a nationally important 500 billion-level modern industrial cluster by 2025. Cultivate industrial chains of hundreds of billions of dollars such as modern coal chemical industry and high-end petrochemical industry, develop characteristic industrial chains such as chlor-alkali chemical industry, fluorine chemical industry, functional materials, etc., accelerate the transformation of traditional chemical industry to fine chemical industry, and improve the intrinsic safety and green level of the chemical industry.

Well-known chemical companies in Henan include Longbai Group, Shenma Co., Ltd., Polyfluoride, Ruifeng New Materials, Xinxiang Chemical Fiber, Henan Energy Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Haohua Yuhang Chemical Co., Ltd., etc.

Hebei: more than 2,200 well-known chemical companies, with a wide distribution of salt chemical and fine chemical industry chains.


Hebei Province is an important chemical base in China. The top 500 chemical companies account for about 8% of the country’s total, second only to Shandong Province and Jiangsu Province. Including 19 chemical parks and more than 2,200 well-known chemical companies.

Hebei Province has formed an industrial system focusing on oil and gas exploration, oil refining, coal chemical industry, salt chemical industry and fine chemical industry. The output of caustic soda accounts for about 4% of the national output, and the output of soda ash accounts for more than 12% of the national output. Well-known chemical companies include Sanyou Chemical, Longxing Chemical, Jizhong Energy, Cangzhou Dahua, Jianxin Co., Ltd. and Kailuan Co., Ltd.

It is not difficult to see that there are more than 10,000 well-known chemical companies in the above regions, covering Wanhua Chemical, Hengli Petrochemical, Luxi Chemical, Shida Shenghua, Qixiang Tengda, Longbai Group, Shenma, Dofluoroduo, Sanyou Chemical, Cangzhou Dahua and many other well-known chemical companies. Although the local listed chemical companies have not yet issued an announcement on the suspension of production and production, the “all factories shut down” and “all those with boilers” mentioned by local companies have obviously brought anxiety to many companies.


As the Spring Festival is approaching, more and more companies are beginning to take holidays, but no one can say with certainty when they can resume work after the festival, or when they will resume production at full capacity. That is to say, large factories in these areas will face the dilemma of shutting down production, and the market inventory of chemical products in the coal chemical, petrochemical, coking refining and fine chemical industry chains will all have the risk of sharp decline. A wave of out-of-stocks.

https://www.echemi.com/cms/470674.html

January 18, 2022

Schneider To Shutter Canadian Operations

Schneider to shut down Canadian operations

Truckload carrier says being in Canada doesn’t fit with “long-term strategic focus”

Nate Tabak Follow on Twitter Friday, January 14, 2022 1 minute read

An orange tractor-trailer of Schneider National travels on a road with trees behind it.
Schneider plans to transfer its Canadian fleet to the U.S. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Listen to this article 0:00 / 1:47 BeyondWords

Schneider National plans to shut down its Canada-based operations and sell off its single terminal in Ontario, the company said Friday. 

The Green Bay, Wisconsin-based trucking and logistics firm said the closure will affect about 150 people, including drivers and other personnel based in Guelph, Ontario. The company plans to wind down operations by the end of March.

“Despite the dedication and best efforts over many years, Canadian-based operations do not fit within Schneider’s long-term strategic focus,” the company said in a statement. “This decision was difficult.”

A company spokesperson declined to elaborate on why it decided to pull out of Canada. But the spokesperson said the vaccine mandates coming for cross-border truckers as well as Canadian carriers regulated by the federal government did not factor into the decision.

Schneider (NYSE:SNDR) will continue to serve Canadian customers through U.S.-based cross-border services. The company plans to transfer its trucks and other equipment to the U.S.

Schneider’s Canadian operation, which provides truckload services, represents a tiny portion of its business. The company brought in $1.1 billion in revenue excluding fuel surcharge in the third quarter.  

The FREIGHTWAVES TOP 500 For-Hire Carriers list includes Schneider (No. 7). 

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/schneider-to-shut-down-canadian-operations