Global Shipping News 2021
Star International Global Relocation Port Arial view
There have been quite a few developments since our last newsletter and things do continue to change rapidly. Shipping continues to be challenging globally, with the West Coast ports impacted by heavy congestion due to the incredible number of imports. This is causing major transit time delays, as well as chassis availability to handle the containers and causing additional port demurrage and chassis charges.
This congestion is closely tied to the increased global demand for Asian exports, coupled with reduced sailing frequencies and the large number of empty containers being held back in EU and US ports, which has created a significant container shortage in Asia. This is leading to shipments being rolled over for weeks, thereby lengthening transit time.
Due to limited space, shipping lines are now charging rates that are 200% higher compared with this time last year. Airfreight has also become very expensive, although pricing is less volatile. Our partners anticipate that freight rates will continue to increase throughout Q1 2021, with some predicting a relief in Q3 2021. To compound matters, storage facilities at origin in the United States are also filling up.
Naturally, we are doing all we can to mitigate these expenses and we are certainly letting our clients know when there will be changes to the agreed upon rates. Below is the latest COVID report, which we will continue to update this week. For the most part, the moving industry can perform moving services with all the COVID-19 precautionary measures in place. There are just a few ports that are closed due to the pandemic, which leaves the borders as the most challenging part. This is what impacts transferee’s ability to travel between countries and in some cases states. Many destinations do have quarantine rules in place, and this may have an impact on delivery. We continue to have an individual approach to each of this to come up with be best solution.
The Star International Mover team is monitoring the above situations and will keep clients who may be affected by these disruptions updated with timely information as it pertains to their respective relocations. If you have any questions, please reach out to your contact at Star Moving Solutions or moving@starint.com
Norwegian 
English 
Spanish 
German 
Italian 
Swedish