- Delays for document assessment by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry increased significantly. This has seen the previous same or next-day turnaround for sea freight increase to approximately 4-5 days. Air freight turnaround is still 24 hours.?With a current backlog of over 3,000 FID lodgements waiting for assessment, expect delays to continue into the future.
- Container throughput volumes at the Port of Melbourne has decreased by 18% compared to February last year. So far, the Port has reported that March will likely also be below last year.
- RoRo vessels arriving in Australia are experiencing high levels of congestion as imported cars are continuing to fail quarantine inspections after discharge due to seed contamination. As a result, many RoRo vessels are reducing their services to Australia, in particular to the Port of Melbourne.?
- For the second time this year, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has banned a general cargo ship from entering Australia due to safety issues. This comes as the AMSA continues its effort to improve the safety of vessels entering Australian waters.?
- An Australian furniture importer was fined more than $186,000 by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for importing illegally harvested timber.
- As sea freight rates continue to drop in China, some carriers are decreasing their services to Australia. For example, we've seen reports that TSL is considering suspending their CA3 service to Australia. Previously, this service has been changed from weekly to biweekly. If some of these services cease altogether, rates will quickly rise and capacity will fall drastically.
- As of the 22nd of May, Hutchison Ports will increase its landside terminal charges at Sydney and Brisbane. The Port Operator has explained that these increases are necessary to recover some costs on capital expenditure and further developments planned for the year. The operator is also expected to increase truck no-shows, slot listing fees and the introduction of a new fee for double articulated vehicles (excluding B-doubles).?
- The implementation of the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement is one step closer to being implemented as Royal Assent has been given to the FTA legislation in the UK.
- In America, the Port of Los Angeles has seen a significant drop in containers, handling 43% less than February last year. This decrease has been attributed to overall slow global trade, extended Chinese New Year and overstocked warehouses. This has been reported as the lowest cargo volume level since the start of the pandemic.?
- China's unofficial ban on the import of Australian coal has reportedly been lifted as customs offices and ports have been instructed to allow this cargo back into the country.
- The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is scheduled to convene in July and is widely anticipated to raise its target of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 to 100%. Shippers are worried that decarbonization would lead to "the mother of all BAFs", as shippers would carry the costs of using sustainable fuels.
- Five shipping bodies have joined forces to create joint action on important safety issues, with the carriage of lithium-ion batteries high up on the agenda. These industry bodies hope to take advantage of unified information and data sources to bring greater awareness and understanding of issues with the goal of producing preventative output.
- Lower rates and less demand will have an impact on more than just carriers. Although the lower prices appear to be good for customers, the volume reduction in demand can result in an overabundance of shipping capacity, which may cause service interruptions and longer transit times.
