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Westar Ocean LCL Consolidation and our use of smaller ports for European westbound freight.

The major east coast ports continue to become more and more congested due to overflow from west coast traffic slowdowns, truck and rail issues and east coast winter storms. You may want to consider how Westar routes westbound European ocean freight. We utilize smaller, non-congested ports of entry into the US via the port of Chester, PA(Philadelphia) and port of Wilmington, NC. We can reduce your days in transit by our routings where it geographically makes sense for your company.Our ocean LCL consolidation service from Europe to the US routes direct into our Pittsburgh warehouse via the port of Chester, PA. And we can distribute your product anywhere nationwide within a matter of days without the use of rail.

LA.- LONG BEACH PORT TRUCKERS DECLARE FORCE MAJEURE
The Harbor Trucking Association (HTA), which represents drayage companies near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, said more than 70 trucking companies have declared “force majeure” in letters sent to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) and various steamship lines in response to huge “per diem” and demurrage charges for containers and chassis. More…

US Trade Deficit Soars In December As Strong Dollar Hurts Exports, Downward Q4 GDP Revisions Imminent
More…

NY-New Jersey 2014 volume up 5.4pc to record 5,772,303 TEU
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has posted a 5.4 per cent year-on-year increase in container volume for 2014 to 5,772,303 TEU, reports American Shipper. Philadelphia up 16.7pc to 449,122 TEU, dredging 70pc done in 2014. The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) has posted a 16.7 per cent year-on-year container volume increase in 2014 to 449,122 TEU as well as a 16.6 per cent rise in overall cargo throughput to 5,950,319 tons, marking a fifth straight year of double digit growth.

In October, the State of Pennsylvania created the Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Programme that commits up to US$ 1 million a year for five years to encourage ocean carriers to move more cargo through Philadelphia by awarding US$ 25 per container lift above previously reported lift totals.The scheme is to ensure that Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) continues to call. While the strings of ships operated by MSC and Maersk’s 2M alliance do not call Philadelphia, MSC has said it will continue to call from North Europe to Philadelphia and Boston.The Port of Philadelphia posted a 14.4 per cent increase in break bulk cargo to 1,382,861 tonnes. Steel was up 49.5 per cent to 394,717 tonnes, and forest products were up 28.2 per cent to 614,843 tonnes.The port said while the amount of fruit and cocoa beans it handled as breakbulk cargo fell, because more of it was containerised, reported American Shipper.”These cargoes aren’t genuinely down at all, only that a portion of them are shifting to containers,” the port said. The port handled 150,637 automobiles (Hyundai and Kia vehicles), 16.6 per cent more than the 129,239 in 2013, and 1,437,664 tons of liquid bulk products last year, up 13.4 per cent year on year.

The port’s $350 million dredging of the Delaware River channel from 40 to 45 feet is close to 70 per cent complete, with the latest rounds of bids to deepen the remaining areas now being evaluated.

US-EU trade deal – the Guardian briefing
What is TTIP, other than an ugly acronym? And will it boost global prosperity by billions of pounds every year – or just make big business ever more influential and unaccountable? More…

West Coast Port Congestion & Labor Update
The congestion situation that has existed for many months on the US West Coast continues and has worsened since the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Delays are occurring in every aspect of the supply chain, covering both export and import transactions up and down the West Coast, including Seattle/Tacoma, Oakland/San Francisco, and Los Angeles/Long Beach. Ships are often at anchor for days awaiting berthing, unloading and loading the vessel is taking longer than ever, pick up of loaded boxes can often take weeks due to congestion, containers are being buried in closed areas, there is a lack of chassis in good order and a lack of qualified drivers, the rails are congested, etc.

On top of the structural problems that are already existing, the ongoing labor dispute between employers (PMA) and longshoremen (ILWU) has gotten worse, despite the mutual agreement to allow a mediator, appointed by the federal government, to intervene in an attempt to resolve the issues that have caused them to be working without a contract for the past seven months. The battle has intensified this week, with both sides accusing the other of causing the current situation: the PMA accuses the ILWU of deliberately slowing their work speed to a crawl, the ILWU accuses the PMA of reducing longshoremen’s hours in an attempt to break the union.

We will continue to keep you current with regular updates related to this ongoing situation which is causing unprecedented delays and financial burdens to all parties involved in ocean transportation via the US West Coast.

TTIP’s teflon coat wears thin
BRUSSELS – The prospect of an EU-US trade agreement was one of relatively few sources of comfort for EU lawmakers during the bloc’s struggling economy in 2013.
http://euobserver.com/review-2014/126640

Port of Long Beach: busiest November since 2007
The Port of Long Beach’s cargo volume saw 2.1% growth in November when compared to the same month last year, but the modest rise was enough to mark the busiest November since 2007.
http://container-mag.com/

World’s biggest carriers grew again last year as ever-bigger box ships arrived
Maersk Line increase its total cellular capacity by 318,000 teu in 2014….
http://theloadstar.co.uk/alphaliner-maersk-line-container-shipping-lines/

MOL looks to 20,000 teu ships
As the 19,000 teu ‘CSCL Globe’, currently the world’s largest containership, arrives in Europe on its maiden voyage from China, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) president, Koichi Muto, has raised the stakes again by…
http://container-mag.com/2015/01/07/mol-looks-20000-teu-ships/

We wish you
peace,
joy and
prosperity throughout the coming year.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

We look forward to working with you in the years to come.

US Customs System Outage

All carriers, exporters and U.S. importers, should note that U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) is experiencing a nation-wide system outage affecting all import activity through its Automated Broker Interface (ABI) and Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) systems. CBP is unable to receive or process data and messages from customs brokers, carriers and other related parties.

This outage has affected all import activity resulting in significant shipment delays at many ports of entry throughout the U.S. as Customs relies on its ‘down-time’ procedures.

Westar is continuing to monitor developments regarding this outage. No ETA has been provided by CBP regarding the system’s availability.