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    Carriers Begin Collecting Port Congestion Surcharge (PCS) as USWC Ports Continue to Teeter Along, November 14, 2014

    Carriers Begin Charging Port Congestion Surcharge
    As expected, steamship lines have begun announcing that they will begin charging the Port Congestion Surcharge. We received announcements from the following carriers that they will begin charging the PCS for all containers arriving at U.S. West Coast Ports on or after November 17, 2014.

    – Evergreen
    – Hyundai –
    – CMA-CGM
    – Hanjin
    – NYK

    The amount of PCS that we are seeing applied to IMPORT containers is currey as foll:

    – $800/
    – $1000/40- $1125/40’HQ
    – $1266/45’HQ

    The original PCS that most carriers announced gave them the latitude to levy the charge on containers at all U.S. ports. However currently, the announcements we have seen are only applying to West Coast IMPORT containers. We are expecting most of the other carriers to join in and begin collecting the PCS.

    For EXPORT containers, thus far we have only seen Evergreen announce a PCS ($240/20′, $300/40′, and $375/45′). I would imagine other carriers might be joining in to announce a PCS on export containers as well.

    Current Status of the USWC Ports
    The USWC port terminals are open and operating today. Reports have come out that the Teamsters have been striking at six Los Angeles / Long Beach terminals. However thus far, the ILWU has not honored the picket line and have kept the terminals in Southern California open.

    In Oakland, all four major terminals are open today. SSA remains a terminal of concern as we have seen the terminal close twice in the past week. Heavy congestion and backlog remain.

    The PMA sent out the following message yesterday, critical again of the ILWU’s behavior in recent weeks. With this message, we are seeing a continued escalation of tensions at the USWC ports.

    We are still monitoring this situation closely and will provide updates as soon as we receive them.

    -Jimmy Ting
    Great World
    t: 650-873-9050 x1019
    email: jimmyting@gwlcorp.com