Date: Thursday, October 28, 2010

Re:	Strike at Buenos Aires, France strike updates

Argentina - Strike at Buenos Aires port

Labor unions servicing Buenos Aires port terminals unions have gone on strike today affecting port operations. The work stoppage is only expected to last today with normal activity resuming tomorrow.

France - Strike action update (Thursday)

Retirement reform legislation that has fueled French strike actions has passed the Senate and Parliament. The legislation will be put before the Constitutional Council which could take up to 4 weeks. Be advised of the latest strike information and situation update on French ports:

• Thursday Oct 28 - nationwide strike for all public and private sector workers; ports will be closed (no vessel operations, container pickups or deliveries back to port). Rail workers are also taking part of the strike and due to ongoing strike action on their part there will be no new bookings prior to November 8th.
   
• Friday Oct 29 - the night shift at Le Havre will not work from 7pm till 6am Sat Oct 30; there will be no vessel operations during that time. Congestion at the port is to be expected after Thursday's nationwide strike and JF Hillebrand France is prioritizing the return of full containers to the port based on vessel closing cut-off times.
   
• Sat-Sun Oct 30-31 - Both ports will be closed over the weekend; there will be no vessel operations, container pickups or deliveries during this time and congestion is expected the days prior and following the strike.
   
• Monday Nov 1 - Public holiday in France
   
• Thursday Nov 4 - truckers unions have called for another nationwide strike but its not confirmed
   
• Saturday Nov 6 - unions have called for another nationwide general strike; congestion is expeccted the days prior to and following the strike.
   
• Thursday Nov 11 - Public holiday in France
   
• Alternative port updates - Barcelona truckers are recovering from congestion following their two day strike last week and are not accepting French loads until the backlog of cargo is cleared which is expected no sooner than November 2nd. French truckers delivering cargo to Barcelona have been subjected to vandalism and property damage. JF Hillebrand France continues to offer alternative shipping options via Genoa, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Barcelona* and are working with short time windows to switch cargo so prompt feedback from shippers is important. Antwerp has been a prefered alternative for export cargo and is reaching its saturation port; Belgium customs have increased cargo customs inspections resulting in some short-shipments. Spanish ports of Tarragona and Bilbao (longer transit time) may also be alternatives.
   
• Fuel supply update - currently approximately 25% gas depots are out of stock following the blockade of oil refineries and strike delays at the Fos port for inbound fuel tanker shipments (approximately 76 vessels are waiting off-shore to enter the Fos/Marseilles oil tanker port terminal due to a separate 31-day consecutive strike at that terminal. It is expected in the next few days this will improve to only 20%.
   
• Major airports are operational; no delays for export air cargo. Air traffic controllers are on strike today but this is affecting only domestic and European flights and not international schedules.
   
• Demurrage alert: due to the schedule disruption at the ports from strikes, containers may accrue demurrage charges at both French ports. Contractual free time limits for containers awaiting export are typically 7-15 calendar days for dry equipment and 2-6 calendar days for reefer equipment. Charges ranging from EUR 15 to EUR 125, depending on equipment type, duration at the terminal and carrier, will accrue when containers exceed the free time limitations at the terminals.

As a reminder, shipments via Fos sur Mer have been subject to ocean carrier congestion surcharges, effective early August as ongoing strike action has continued from July 5th.

We will continue provide updates on further developments, alerts on individual shipments affected as well as alternative shipping options where available. For status on any pending orders check with your operations representative at 732-388-0101 or login to AXIS for further detail.