Shipping Alerts for September 1st, 2021
Port of New Orleans still closed
The Port of New Orleans has been closed since Monday August 31st and is assessing conditions at the port complex. Hurricane Ida brought widespread flooding and power outages to the area and re-opening plans are contingent upon power restoration at the facilities. Jump to the US Port & Intermodal update report here.
Labor Day Schedules
Labor day is a “no work” holiday next Monday for port longshoremen. While rail networks will continue to operate trains on the holiday, expect delays from modified rail services and from any port terminal transfers. NASA and Hillebrand USA offices/facilities will be closed on Monday September 6th, 2021. Note the cutoff for ISF filing for import clearance will be Thursday September 2nd for anything sailing through September 8th.
South America – Cross-Andes Road Closed
Winter weather storms have again closed the cross-Andes road used for connecting Mendoza exports to Chilean ports today. The pass also was closed several days last week, so prepare for additional delays on cargo moving to Chilean ports. Note that departures from Chilean could also face delays from intermittent port closures (winds/storm surges) as well as trans-shipment service delays on northbound services to the US/Canada.
China Ports – Ningbo Meishan Re-opened
Operations resumed on August 25th after a two week lockdown restrictions. Note that flare-ups across the region and in the southern provinces of Vietnam are impacting overall global supply chain flows (trucker shortages and factory closures or reduced productivity). The reduce flow of container equipment leads to delays across the network due to import-export trade imbalances. Across Asia there is a shortage of empty containers, while there is an oversupply of equipment in North America.
Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand has lifted its level 4 lockdown (August 17th to the 27th) with Auckland extending it to August 31st. Import cargo movements are allowed under increased safety protocols; however, production and packing of non-essential export products are restricted and this is impacting supply chain movements. In Australia, New South Wales lockdown has been extended until the end of September and through September 2nd for Victoria. Transport and logistics activity is classified as essential services, but plan for continued lead times and vessel schedule changes for anything shipping from Oceania to North America.
For more information on pending or planned shipments, please reach out to your Hillebrand representative to discuss the best possible arrangements for transport, warehousing, insurance, and customs compliance needs.