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Heat map reveals ports causing the most disruption to global supply chain
A new global heat map has revealed the ports experiencing the most delays, and impacting the transportation of goods, including drinks, around the world.
Speak to any drinks producer almost anywhere in the world right now and they’ll becry the lack of raw materials and subsequent long wait-times for orders. At ProWein the drinks business spoke with one Chilean producer who said it had the next vintage of its wine ready to go, and bottle label designed and made, however it was frustratingly unable to release the wine due to the scarcity of glass.
But have you ever wondered where the bottlenecks, so to speak, are occurring? A recent global heat map created by CNBC, created with the help of leading maritime and logistics data providers, shows just this.
The map tracks all factors within the supply chain including factory capacity, vessel availability, container availability, trucking capacity, port productivity, vessel transit time and rail capacity.
In the US, it’s the ports of Oakland and Los Angeles that top the list of congestion, according to MarineTraffic and Blume Global data.
In the Port of Oakland, ships are currently taking six days to unload and load, while import containers linger by almost 11 eleven days in port before being transported.
The Port of Los Angeles has the second highest wait times, taking almost 12 days for containers to leave the port, and 5.5 days for vessels to be processed.
New York is also experiencing excessive congestion, though southern states Charleston, Savannah and Houston appear to be less affected.
According to the data analysis, much of the delays are caused by staff shortages, either due to Covid diagnoses, lockdowns or staff simply resigning.
BNSF, one of the largest freight railroads in North America serves the Port of Los Angeles. However, more than 1,000 of its rail workers have reportedly handed in their notice since February over a labour dispute concerning the company’s attendance policy, further exacerbating delays.
In Asia Pacific, Shanghai in particular is experiencing long delays when it comes to trucks due to a lack of drivers, largely due to the ongoing lockdowns in the city.
The ports of Ningbo in East China and Quindao, usually one of the 10 busiest ports in the world, are also on the red list due to a lack of containers and ships available.
As pointed out in a report by CNBC, a vessel at rest is not making money.
The drinks business previously reported how P&O freight ships were sailing 80% empty, as commercial clients continue to boycott the company due to its decision to make 784 of its crew unemployed, before bringing in cheaper agency staff, many of whom are said to be paid less than minimal wage.
P&O’s biggest vessel, The Spirit of Britain, capable of carrying 180 lorries, left port only 19% full last week. And on some crossings there were less than 10 lorries on board the ship.