SPRING 2024

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104 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK CHRIS DONNELL LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN AT A GLANCE from page 38 First, the change from an El Nino to La Nina weather cycle. The El Nino cycles has created havoc with the weather patterns in and around Panama, resulting is a severe 3-year drought. The switch to a La Nina cycle will cause surface temperatures of the ocean to cool resulting in a higher chance for storms and weather needed to bring moisture to Panama. The second and arguably the most important change, at least for importers / exporters, is the fact that the Panama Canal Authority just announced it’s eliminating the restrictions put in place on container vessels transitioning through the canal. This is great news, however, don’t expect to see any significant changes with the carriers for several months. This also depends on whether the Canal Authority follows through with their claims. It will take time to adjust routings, filter through the back-log, and get all administrative agreements in place. This should open up capacity at the origin, eliminate a lot of Red Sea traffic, and ultimately reduce costs. Another issue currently taking hold involves the routing of cargo. Importers are eliminating the risks of shipping through the Panama and Suez canals and routing their cargo via rail inland from the West Coast. This switch in routing is having a negative impact on the ports and their ability to handle the additional cargo, resulting in elevated levels of congestion and other delays. We’re seeing upwards of 7–12-day delays for railed cargo from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma and 3-4-day delays in Los Angeles, our nation’s busiest ocean terminal. It’s hopeful that with the reduction or elimination of restrictions through the Panama Canal, this congestion on the West Coast will subside. My last topic regarding the ocean sector surrounds the large amount of misinformation that is out in the market place. I’ve heard countless times that importers don’t understand why rates are highly elevated, why there are capacity issues overseas when its being reported in various publications that capacity is wide open, so let me set the record straight. First, the rates have been elevated since late October of 2023. As of Valentine’s Day 2024, ocean rates have increased by more than 300%. This is due in large part to the issues I’ve mentioned above, as well as the increase in overall import volumes year over year. You read that correctly, imports for the month of January increased by more than 7% over the same time last year and more than 4% over December of 2023. That’s a significant increase. It gives ocean carriers further leverage to manipulate the ocean rate market. Also contributing to the capacity constraints throughout the Pacific Rim is the carrier’s continuation of their “blank sailing” process. At the current time, a blank sailing affects every 1 out of 5 vessels resulting in equipment shortages, port congestion and increased lead times; all of which gives the impression of a robust shipping environment and allows the ocean carriers to hold or raise costs. Again, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Word has it that shortly after the conclusion of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, ocean rates should start to subside and that trend should continue until the new shipping season starts in May. Port And Rail News Other than slight congestion at the ports on the west coast, things are running fairly routine. In fact, the rail carriers have played a significant role in keeping congestion to a minimum, especially with the increased demand on the west coast ocean terminals. As an example, during the pandemic, the rail carriers were the first to eliminate routings or suspend services to inland rail ramps. Today the rail lines are focusing on opening channels which weren’t readily available such as rail traffic from the West Coast to the upper Northeast. Rail tonnage and traffic has increased roughly 4.5% week over week and more than 6.4% higher than in December of 2024. CONTINUED ON PAGE 144
THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK 105 MID-WEST FASTENER ASSOCIATION PO Box 255, Park Ridge, IL 60068 TEL 847-438-8338 EMAIL mwfa@mwfa.net WEB www.mwfa.net MWFA EVENTS CALENDAR FOR 2024 by Francesca Lewis MWFA Upcoming Events April 11 Wine Tasting Venuti’s Restaurant, Addison, IL April 18 Metallurgy Class SWD, Addison, IL May 22-23 Fastener Fair Cleveland, OH May 30 Screwed Up Open White Pines, Bensenville, IL July 11 Milwaukee Meeting- Brewers Game Milwaukee, WI August 18 Sleep In Heavenly Peace Bed Build Marriott Resort, Lincolnshire, IL August 19 MWFA Mixer August 20 Table Top Show & Class Marriott Resort, Lincolnshire, IL ASSOCIATION ARTICLE August 21 Golf Outing Cranes Landing Lincolnshire, IL August 19-23 Fastener Training Week September 9-11 International Fastener Expo Las Vegas, NV November 7 Scholarship Awards & Elections Belvedere Banquets, Elk Grove, IL November 9 Planning Meeting Eaglewood Resort, Itasca, IL December 12 Holiday Party Medinah Banquets, Addison, IL For the most up-to-date information on upcoming events and to stay on top of any changes to the events calendar, check out our website at www.mwfa.net or contact Francesca Lewis at mwfa@mwfa.net. MID-WEST FASTENER ASSOCIATION
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AFC Industries has acquired West Ch
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advertisers index E E & T FASTENERS
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SPRING 2024

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