Hanjin Shipping’s entry into receivership has thrown some inbound US cargo traffic into disarray.
But the development comes at a time when overall container traffic into the world’s biggest consumer market remains muted amid high retail inventories.
Hanjin said the US Port of Savannah has blocked its access due to concerns over whether the troubled South Korean liner operator could pay its fees. Other industry watchers say Hanjin may not moor its ships at US ports due to the potential for a vessel arrest.
Current tracking data shows only one Hanjin containership, the 4,275-teu Hanjin Gdynia (built 2009), en route to the port of Long Beach.
But Hanjin’s troubles in US markets may have negligible effect as container traffic to the US lags last year’s levels.
The Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a trade group comprising the world’s largest liner companies, says container volumes into US ports year-to-date through July are running at 7.99 million teu, just slightly below last year’s levels.
Niels Erich says that ongoing high US retail inventories are keeping some importers from restocking goods. As of June, US retail inventories were totalled just over $600bn, 5% higher than year-earlier levels.
The traditional restocking season for retailers ahead of the holiday shopping season has yet to yield much in the way of additional traffic.
“There seems to be some optimism out in the market that there has to be inventory restocking at some point, but we have not yet seen that,” Erich said.
