Industry Insights
June 2024
By PGL
Welcome to the PGL Industry Insights report for June 2024
Good news for the embattled Baltimore shipping channel as it was fully re-opened on July 10th, almost 3 months after the fateful bridge collision that was caused when the container ship Dali lost power.
In labor news, on June 11, the Union representing more than 9,000 Canadian border agents reached a tentative agreement that avoids a potential strike. Meanwhile, things are heating up on the Gulf and East Coasts as the International Longshoreman’s Association threatens action, canceling negotiations as the current contract is set to expire at the end of September of this year.
In the Red Sea, a second ship has been sunk by Houthi rebels in the campaign that has seen over 60 attacks since November. The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said that container shipping through the Red Sea has declined by 90% since December.
The Benchmark Diesel Price Index moved up for the first time in 10 weeks with the Department of Energy average weekly retail diesel price climbing 7.7 cents a gallon to $3.735 in mid-June. This is still well below the 4.00 per gallon mark last seen in early April. There aren’t a lot of apparent factors that explain the increase beyond the reported US inventories of over 114 million barrels, the highest reported since February.
NOAA released its May hurricane forecast and it incudes a warning to prepare for a potentially “hyperactive” season. The shipping industry is being cautioned about severe disruptions that could impact all modes of transportation, especially trucking and ocean transport in the gulf coast and eastern seaboard. This could mean significant changes to pricing, shifting the leverage that shippers have had over carriers over the last 5 quarters.
That’s it for this month’s Industry Insights Report. We’ll see you in July and, as always, PGL will be here to keep you informed and will keep delivering peace of mind, 24/7/365.
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