THE SHIFT TO OPPORTUNITIES?

foreign policy. Certainly, a part of the new realities postulated by the speakers is goods production coming back to US shores, though not on a massive scale. Their feeling was that globalisation has gone too far to be reversed, but it might be finetuned, meaning that sources for inputs and finished products may shift around to alternative, and more “reliable” origins.

have loomed large on this event’s agenda. This year, those themes were certainly on the program, but the organisers were able to attract some speakers from inside the Beltway, giving their takes on how foreign affairs (sanctions but also broader trade policies) might be impacting the maritime trades.

On the way home from the event (held in a beautiful venue overlooking the East River in midtown New York), a big item

Peter De Langen Theanalyst

While many ports do not report monthly traffic volumes, the data from the ports that do, as well as the data from Cosco Shipping Ports, the only large terminal operating company that publishes monthly container volume data for all its terminals, clearly shows volumes are weak and generally below 2022 levels.

. The large US West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have both seen very substantial (>30 per cent) declines for the first two months of 2023. In Europe, Valencia’s data for January 2023 also shows a significant decline (>20 per cent) of volumes compared to 2022.

on that day’s evening news was the mysterious balloon flying over the US. While the political speakers had not predicted the flyover (or the three others that followed during the next week), their remarks did suggest that the US was undergoing a shift in thinking towards a more protectionist and, dare I say, potentially insular approach to

For the ports, now (as alluded to above) much more in the public eye, these shifts bring opportunities to liaise with customers and potentially develop new business. The conversation at the conference also touched on activities by large cargo interests actually chartering smaller vessels. While this topic remains very circumspect and hush hush (show me those bills of lading, please!!!), to the extent that it actually becomes a sustained feature in cargo flows (I have my doubts), working with cargo interests and vessel owners on highly bespoke arrangements is clearly a business opportunity.