containers Archives

U.S. port strike ends leaving cargo backlog

Tentative deal includes 62 per cent wage hike over six years

By David Shepardson, Dovinsola Oladipo, Reuters October 4, 2024

U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports began reopening late on Thursday after dockworkers and port operators reached a wage deal to settle the industry's biggest work stoppage in nearly half a century, but clearing the cargo backlog will take time.

Grain is loaded onto ships for export at a port on the Parana River near Rosario, Argentina on Jan. 31, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Marcos Brindicci)

Markets

Bulk ocean freight rates fall from highs despite uncertainty

Container rates have climbed higher as Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have caused diversions

By Phil Franz-Warkentin January 17, 2024

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of bulk shipping rates, has dropped sharply over the past month after hitting 18-month highs in early December. Meanwhile, container rates have climbed higher over the same period as attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea have caused many shipping companies to divert their vessels.

Loading grain on a vessel at a Burrard Inlet terminal. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets

Bulk ocean freight at highest level of past year

Container freight rates seen softening

By Phil Franz-Warkentin October 19, 2023

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have shown some strength over the past two months, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) at its highest level of the past year. The BDI, […] Read more

File photo of sunset over port facilities at Odesa. (Mixarde/iStock/Getty Images)

Markets

Ukraine announces ‘humanitarian corridor’ for other stuck ships

Moscow not yet commenting on plan

By Olena Harmash August 11, 2023

Kyiv | Reuters — Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea on Thursday to release cargo ships trapped in its ports since the outbreak of war, a new […] Read more

A Shanghai container terminal. (Chuyu/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets

Pulse weekly outlook: Exports solid through 10 months

West Coast ports move to clear strike backlog

By Phil Franz-Warkentin July 18, 2023

MarketsFarm — Canadian pulse exports continued at a solid pace through most of the 2022-23 marketing year, although recent disruptions on the West Coast may cut into the final total. […] Read more

Aerial view of Centerm, a Burrard Inlet terminal for containerized cargo at the Port of Vancouver. (Bloodua/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets

Pulse weekly outlook: B.C. port strike drags on exports

Cargoes either stuck at port or held at home

By Glen Hallick July 11, 2023

MarketsFarm — As the 11-day-old port workers strike in British Columbia continued to impede exports from Canada’s West Coast, Marcos Mosnaim of Export Packers said the work stoppage was taking […] Read more

File photo of a docked grain vessel at a Black Sea port in Turkey. (Bfk92/E+/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets

Bulk ocean freight rates recover off lows

Container rates remain in downtrend

By Phil Franz-Warkentin February 28, 2023

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have shown some strength in late February, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) recovering off two-and-a-half-year lows hit earlier in the month. The BDI, a […] Read more

A container terminal at the Port of Vancouver. (FangXiaNuo/E+/Canada)

Crops, Markets

Ocean freight rates falling

Baltic index at lowest since mid-2020

By Phil Franz-Warkentin January 14, 2023

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates are under pressure to start 2023, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) dipping to its lowest level since June 2020 as poor demand for vessels […] Read more

A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets

Ocean freight rates under pressure

Container rates also lower

By Phil Franz-Warkentin November 23, 2022

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have come under pressure over the past month, nearing their lowest levels of 2022 as mounting COVID-19 cases in China, along with increased restrictions in […] Read more

Crops

Feds back Montreal port grain terminal for upgrades

CanEst crop container terminal funded for equipment, capacity improvements

By Hannah Polk October 18, 2022

CanEst Transit’s grain container terminal at the Port of Montreal is putting $8 million in federal funding toward new equipment and improvements to current infrastructure. Transport Canada, in a release […] Read more