September 28, 2021 – Please note that our domain and emails will be temporarily offline on Saturday October 2 to Sunday October 3rd to upgrade our systems. We apologize for the inconvenience but please send your emails to canaan.toronto to ensure that we receive your email. All emails that are sent during this upgrade period will automatically be returned to sender. If your matter is urgent, please call us at 416.621.6800.
September 27, 2021 – In an ominous sign that the tight cargo supply will not ease up anytime soon, there are over 60 container ships full of import cargo stuck offshore of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but there are more than double that – 154 as of Friday – waiting to load export cargo off Shanghai and Ningbo in China, according to eeSea, a company that analyzes carrier schedules. The number of container ships anchored off Shanghai and Ningbo has surged over recent weeks. There are now 242 container ships waiting for berths countrywide. Whether it’s due to heavy export volumes, Typhoon Chanthu or COVID, rising congestion in China is yet another wild card for the trans-Pacific trade.
September 24, 2021 – Taiwan’s request to join the Asia-Pacific’s biggest working trade deal, coming just days after China submitted its own bid, presents the member nations with a difficult choice. Both Beijing and Taipei have asked to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in the past week. That creates the possibility of a long and politicized application process, with the members divided between democracies such as Japan, Australia and Canada pushing for Taiwan’s accession, and Southeast Asian nations keen to remain in China’s good graces, making them vulnerable to pressure from Beijing to thwart Taipei’s bid. Irregardless of the outcome, the attraction of CPTPP to both China and Taiwan bodes well for Canadian trade.
September 20, 2021 – The shortage of containers that is plaguing shippers is not due to any underinvestment in the equipment fleet, but due to the extended time they are spending in transit, according to container shipping specialist Drewry. “Not only have we got rising cargo demand, but there is the continuing disruption across the container supply chain, which means it is taking much longer for containers to complete their voyages,” Drewry head of research Martin Dixon said, explaining that it is these delays that are leading to inefficiencies in the container fleet.
September 12, 2021 – Ports in Shanghai and Ningbo, the world’s largest and third-largest container hubs, have closed for the second time due to the impact of a typhoon this summer. China’s National Meteorological Centre issued an orange alert, the second-most serious level, for the Typhoon Chanthu, which was expected to make landfall in the Zhoushan Archipelago, Zhejiang province on Monday with strong gales and heavy rainfall. Terminal operators at the nearby Yangshan Deepwater Port, which accounts for about 45% of Shanghai’s throughput, suspended all box pickup and delivery operations from September 13. The two main port areas, Waigaoqiao and Wusong, halted the entry and exit of containers at the same time.
September 6, 2021 – Montreal Gateway Terminals announced that “in light of its continuous effort to respond to industry concerns, in light of the understandable allocation concerns and the evident logistical challenges on the supply chain of managing a 2 day receiving window for outbound (export) reefer containers, effective September 7th, MGT terminals (Section 77 and Section 62) will increase the receiving window from 2 to 3 days. As outbound reefer equipment will follow the same ERD and receiving window as dry cargo, Canaan Transport will continue to advise its customers on the best schedule for loading.
August 19, 2021 – The ports of Ningbo and Shanghai are slowly recovering from their shutdowns this past week due to a covid outbreak. However, reports indicate that vessels continue to be delayed and shipments are still congested in the area due to these problems.
August 12, 2021 – Operations at a terminal of the world’s largest port were suspended yesterday following a case of COVID-19 being detected in a worker. Ningbo-Zhoushan port started to turn ships away yesterday morning in the wake of the positive test. Initially, the ports authority claimed that its operating system was down early this morning before the Ningbo Municipal Health Commission came clean with the news. The infected worker was part of the workforce at Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal. There were already reports on Monday about the unprecedented volumes of tankers, bulk carriers and containerships backing up outside Ningbo-Zhoushan port.
August 6, 2021 – The federal government has reached a tentative agreement with the union that represents Canada’s border agents. The deal, announced today after more than 30 straight hours of mediated talks, comes after a daylong work-to-rule campaign that spawned long lineups at the country’s busiest border crossing points. It also comes just days before the Canada Border Services Agency is to begin easing COVID-19 travel restrictions on fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
August 6, 2021 – The Public Service Alliance of Canada says job action by 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency workers has begun after the 6 a.m. deadline for labour negotiations expired. The union says workers will now begin a “sweeping” series of actions at Canadian airports, land borders, commercial shipping ports, postal facilities and headquarters locations. The job action will continue until a deal is reached with the federal government.