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Cargo fights for space on ships
Posted On 10 Apr 2018
Ecuadornews:
There are two phenomenons that currently affect the export sector and that make part of the load stay or leave with delays.
The first is the lack of seats on the routes to Europe and the Mediterranean. The other is the shortage of refrigerated containers. 75% of the 320 million boxes of bananas come out under that system; 100% of tuna and fish and shrimp and fruits.
“We are not competitive at the freight level in the export cargo and this implies that the shipping companies find in other markets, such as Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, more attractive freight,” the president of the Maritime Chamber tells Diario EXPRESO of Ecuador (Camae), Javier Moreira, who is also the general manager of one of the most important lines in the world, CMA-CGM Ecuador.
This reduces the supply of space for Ecuador and that is what is happening at this time. “They are simply going to give space to a country that pays a better rate,” says Moreira.
Emilio Aguiar, president of Tecnisea and extitular of the Camae, also highlights the problem of refrigerated cargo. “Ecuador has an imbalance in what has to do with refrigerated containers. We only export refrigerated products, but we do not import, therefore there is an imbalance. We need equipment in Ecuador and in many cases the lines have to bring them empty to carry them full. ”
Veronica Dahik, Natluk’s manager, shrimp exporter, said that the (cold) cameras of the packers are full and the rates of shipping by the roofs. This delays the deliveries and collections of the exporting companies.
This is exacerbated when in the fruit season in Chile because most spaces are occupied by cargo coming from that source.
Jorge Dávila, sales manager of Maersk, confirms that there is little space and that, in large part, is due to the high shipping season of the banana. To this is added the greater demand in Europe following the agreement signed with Ecuador. “The banana load to Europe has grown 8% so far this year.”
In principle, from the second half of the year will come new services to the country that will involve more space for certain traffic, such as China, Japan, the Far East and many of the shipping companies are sending build more refrigerated containers to meet global demand and that benefits Ecuador.
Javier Moreira. President / Maritime Chamber
CMA-CGM ordered the construction of containers and still they are needed.
We send to build 20,000 containers; however, it seems that today nothing is enough. The global demand is very high. Some lines have been more favored than others, but in general the demand is very high and the industry has not been prepared for that.
Containerization of cargo is increasing, what happens in Ecuador?
oad is becoming increasingly containers, and for that volume that is growing there is not enough supply to supply it. Now I would say that the banana is at 75% (containerized) versus 25% (loose). Containerization continues to grow. (Shrimp also increased its demand).
Is the problem of lack of containers global?
As there is a high demand for refrigerated cargo globally, the service capacity of the shipping lines is affected and there is not enough container availability in the region; the lack of space and the lack of equipment are the two major problems that affect foreign trade today. (I)
