Dear Valued Customers,

As of 15 May 2026, the U.S. ocean freight market is moving into a firmer and tighter phase, especially on the Trans-Pacific trade from Asia to the U.S. West Coast and East Coast. Vessel space has tightened over the last two weeks due to aggressive blank sailings, carrier capacity management, and early peak-season cargo front-loading by importers trying to avoid further tariff and geopolitical disruptions. Multiple carriers are restricting effective capacity even though overall global vessel supply remains high.

Freight rates are now showing a clear upward trend ranging between $600 to $800 for East Coast and West Coast depending on origin, carrier, and service level. Emergency Fuel Surcharges (EFS) and Peak Season Surcharges (PSS) are also being added by several carriers. Recent indexes from Drewry and Freightos show weekly increases continuing on both West Coast and East Coast lanes.

Here is another important update for you on Section 122 Tariffs which essentially means that the Section 122 tariffs imposed in February 2026 are still legally active for now, despite the court ruling against them. The key development is that the U.S. government appealed the decision, so nothing changes operationally until higher courts decide otherwise. Therefore, we encourage you to begin preparing documentation early rather than waiting for a final ruling.

Here’s the practical takeaway:

• The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the Administration likely exceeded its authority under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 when imposing those tariffs.
• However, because the government appealed on May 12, the tariffs are still being collected at present.
• Customs compliance and duty payments must continue normally until there is a final judicial outcome or an injunction/stay changes enforcement.
• Importers should now start reviewing historical entries and calculating possible duty exposure and refund eligibility in case the tariffs are eventually struck down permanently.

The most important thing to watch next is whether the Appeals Court grants a Stay and CBP issues operational guidance.

Now For Some Essential Read….

FMC searching for new members to serve on shipper advisory board

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Thursday said it is searching for new members to serve on its National Shipper Advisory Committee (NSAC), which advises the federal agency on policy related to ocean freight.

The advisory committee, composed of 24 individuals representing import and export cargo interests, specifically counsels the FMC on issues of supply chain competitiveness, reliability, integrity, and fairness. The committee is evenly split between import and export entities.

“The commission intends for membership to reflect a balanced mix of shippers, and selections will be made based on factors such as commodities shipped, ports used, geographic areas served, and origins of cargo, as well as other relevant factors,” the FMC said in a statement.

The agency added it was “looking for applicants with extensive shipping and US oceanic supply chain knowledge, as well as an eagerness to collaborate and share their expertise on various issues…”

War-driven fuel prices send trucking PPIs, shipper costs skyward

The US producer price indexes (PPIs) for trucking last month leapt in nearly vertical lines so steep they could cause vertigo.

The long-distance truckload PPI jumped 11.4% in April from March, reaching 202.2, according to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Wednesday. That’s an 18.9% year-over-year increase for the all-inclusive measure of truckload pricing.

April’s less-than-truckload (LTL) PPI shot up 12% from March and climbed 20% year over year to a record-breaking 311 — the biggest annualized increase in the LTL index since June 2022.

In comparison, the April PPI for intermodal freight rail transportation was flat from March and only up less than 1 percentage point year over year, BLS data showed.

The trucking PPIs represent final “selling prices” paid by thousands of shippers, including fuel surcharges and spot and contract base rates. The April PPIs show the impact of war-driven diesel prices in the US that have been more than 50% higher year over year since March 23.

The average US retail diesel as of May 11 was $5.64 per gallon, flat with the previous week but up 62.2% from a year ago, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The US average diesel price has been above $5 per gallon for nine weeks.

Rising container dwells hobble vessel flows at India’s Nhava Sheva, Mundra ports

Supply chain stakeholders at India’s Nhava Sheva and Mundra ports have been struggling to deploy adequate drayage capacity to keep export/import cargo flowing in recent weeks, leaving ocean carriers grappling with multiple operational challenges. Sources say inter-terminal container transfers linked to transshipment activity have also been affected.

The inland cutbacks are primarily due to an unusual shortage of truck drivers after a large number of domestic migrant workers returned to their hometowns for a variety of reasons. Labor availability typically drops every year during the April–June summer holiday period, but a crunch of this scale was unexpected, port sources say.

Carrier sources have reported an average berthing delay of two days for regular/window services and up to five days for ad-hoc vessel calls at Nhava Sheva and Mundra. Mega-liners with dedicated terminal operations are able to manage vessel turnarounds better, however.

Late vessel arrivals from previous ports of call are adding to the delays, a bigger concern for Mundra given the pattern of Indian service rotations.

To relieve the heightened berth pressure, the busier terminals at Adani Ports’ Mundra are now turning away ad-hoc callers, sources said.

“There has been an acute shortage of drivers, coupled with disruptions at the port, due to which we anticipate that first- and last-mile movement of containers may get impacted,” inland service provider Adani Logistics told customers in an advisory. “We strongly recommend engaging with your respective shipping lines regarding any financial implications that may arise … which may be due to reasons beyond our control…”

On-dock yards in Nhava Sheva and Mundra are overflowing with containers, triggering abrupt gate closings by terminals for cargo intake into the wharf, a major concern for carriers trying to push westbound cargo lifts.

“The window to gate in exports is short and constantly changing,” said an executive at a leading European carrier who didn’t want to be identified. “That also means shippers have to run around quickly to organize a container trailer, often unable to find one in the present situation.”

Supply-side changes to US truck market called ‘structural,’ not temporary

Changes to US truckload capacity in early 2026 appear structural, not cyclical, analysts and logistics providers say, and will pose long-term challenges for shippers.

“Tighter market conditions have been primarily driven by structural supply-side changes largely due to enforcement actions related to non-domiciled CDLs [commercial driver’s licenses] and English language proficiency,” Jared Weisfeld, chief strategy officer for logistics provider RXO, told the Journal of Commerce.

In a cyclical market governed by economic conditions, capacity will wax and wane with demand, as truckload carriers add or sell off trucks. But demand this spring appears to be flat, Weisfeld and other sources said, and the current contraction in supply is an atypical reaction to an unprecedented level of regulatory enforcement.

“This is a structural, not a cyclical, market inflection,” said Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics. That’s partly because reduced supply is largely attributed to regulatory enforcement driven by the federal government, not economics.

Yang Ming to develop cargo base to offset trade, geopolitical uncertainties

Yang Ming Marine Transport will develop and strengthen new and existing sources of cargo and improve slot utilization and schedule reliability to offset trade risks facing the container shipping market, Taiwan’s second-largest carrier said Wednesday.

“Geopolitical risks and evolving trade policies remain major sources of uncertainty,” the carrier said in a commentary accompanying the release of its first-quarter results, which saw declines in net profits and revenue.

On developing its cargo base, the carrier has been involved in three service launches this year, with plans to add 22 container ships to its fleet between now and early 2030.

The new loops comprise the inauguration of a Premier Alliance combined Far East-Latin America pendulum and Vietnam shuttle express service on April 28; its own China-Singapore-Malaysia (CMS) service using three 2,800-TEU vessels; and a slot charter agreement on the PS8/AP2 trans-Pacific service jointly operated by Ocean Network Express and Wan Hai Lines.

Yang Ming said it will take delivery of three additional 15,600-TEU LNG-fueled ships this year following delivery of the first two ships in February.

While delivery of new vessels is likely to outpace cargo demand growth this year, “persistent rerouting of vessels” to avoid the Middle East war zone will absorb surplus capacity and “effectively alleviate supply-side pressures,” the carrier said.

Yang Ming said Alphaliner has forecast demand growth at 2.5% this year compared with supply growth of 3.8%, “with approximately 1.61 million TEUs of new vessel capacity scheduled for delivery.

Hapag-Lloyd posts Q1 net loss in ‘unsatisfactory’ start to 2026

War in the Middle East drove up energy prices from the end of February. Habben Jansen said the carrier was bunkering 100,000 tons of fuel a week, which was adding $50 million to $60 million to its weekly bills.

“The situation in the Middle East caused significant extra cost from March, which we hope to recover through surcharges in the second quarter,” the CEO said. “A significant increase in bunker cost is expected in Q2 which will be covered by our emergency fuel surcharge and the regular marine fuel recovery mechanism.”

Recovering rising bunker costs

Half of the carrier’s volume is under contract where surcharges enable rising fuel costs to be fully recovered. On the spot market, Habben Jansen said rising rates through the peak season will factor in the bunker costs.

“Looking at the sheer magnitude of the additional costs that we face, I think in most cases we have sensible discussions with customers, and that can be that we either come up with an emergency additional charge, or in some cases we move from a quarterly adjustment in the bunker formula to a monthly adjustment,” he said.

Maersk joins race to target burgeoning China-India trade with capacity boost

Maersk is restarting an intra-Asia service that was suspended in late 2020 as part of widespread network shakeups in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The standalone FI2 service connecting key ports in China, Malaysia, India and Pakistan is set to return to the trade lane in early June, complementing the FI3 that the Danish carrier still operates in a revamped format.

Six ships in the 3,400-TEU to 4,500-TEU range will be deployed on the FI2 to provide a weekly rotation, calling at Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Tanjung Pelepas, Nhava Sheva, Pipavav and Port Qasim (Karachi). The first sailing from Shanghai is planned for June 4.

Maersk is increasing capacity in response to growth in Indian imports from China and other Asian production markets in recent years, propelled by input sourcing to support rapid industrial development.

Middle East chokepoints shift focus to intra-Asia

Ashish Sheth, chairman and managing director of Sarjak Container Lines, believes Persian Gulf chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea have refueled the strategic importance of intra-Asia trades for India.

“China-India container trade continues to show strong structural growth in 2026, driven by electronics, machinery, chemicals and manufacturing inputs,” Sheth told the Journal of Commerce.

Most mainliners have already positioned themselves alongside niche intra-Asia operators to capture fresh demand gains.

In late 2025, CMA CGM began a regional loop linking Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia to Chennai in southeast India with extended reach for western India and Pakistan via feeder connectivity.

Ocean Network Express and HMM have also cemented their intra-Asia presence out of India through vessel-sharing or slot partnerships. Chinese-backed CU Lines seems to be another emerging capacity participant on the trade lane, rivaling the predominant regional carriers such as Wan Hai Lines, Cosco Shipping, Pacific International Lines, Evergreen, Yang Ming and Interasia Lines.

Hormuz closure just the latest ‘weaponization’ of maritime chokepoints

Increasing geopolitical tensions are clearly leading to a weaponization of maritime chokepoints. The critical question is how much this will escalate in the coming years and how shipping in general, and container shipping in particular, is going to be impacted.

First of all, what is meant by the term “weaponization” of maritime chokepoints?

In essence, it is the use of maritime chokepoints as leverage for a political agenda, either for domestic or for international purposes. And the chokepoints refer to elements in the supply chain that are limited in number and/or capacity without the ability to effectively bring in new capacity or easily be bypassed.

The obvious example playing itself out presently is the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. Initially with Iran using it as a “weapon” against not just the US and Israel but as an attack vector at the global economy. This de-facto widens the conflict to a global scale.

The US subsequently also weaponized the Strait of Hormuz in a blockade against Iranian-related shipping interests, but the scale and scope are much more limited than what Iran has done. However, both the US and Iranian blockades resulted in a reduction of available crude oil in the world market, and as such, the usage of this weapon, regardless by whom, has negative consequences on stakeholders not directly involved in the war.

This is certainly not the first such weaponization of maritime chokepoints in recent times. The Red Sea crisis is yet another example of this where a relatively weak military power was able to successfully weaponize the chokepoint. Today, more than 900 days later, the Houthis effectively maintain an embargo on certain vessels and shipping lines.

The US announcement of million-dollar fees on Chinese vessels calling US ports in 2025 was yet another example of weaponization of maritime chokepoints: In this case, ports and terminals and not a body of water. The Chinese response was a retaliation in kind, with China also weaponizing the Chinese ports as chokepoints.

India weaponized their ports as well in 2025. As Pakistan and India came to the brink of war, India banned the entry of vessels into their ports that had been calling Pakistani ports. Turkey made a similar move for a while in 2025, banning Israeli shipping interest from calling Turkish ports.

Spain banned vessels suspected of carrying weapons for Israel from calling Spanish ports, forcing some container vessels to deviate to Tangiers in Morocco instead of calling Algeciras. Port workers in, for example, the Netherlands refused to handle Russian cargo in Dutch ports following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

These are all just recent examples of the weaponization of maritime chokepoints.

With geopolitical turmoil on the rise, we should expect more of such actions to take place in the future.

Panama Canal an obvious flashpoint

One of the most obvious risks is the Panama Canal. It is clearly a vital maritime chokepoint, and the past year has shown an increase in the conflict between the US and China in terms of who “controls” the canal. Obviously, in the eyes of the Panamanian government and the canal authorities, neither the US nor China controls the canal; it is instead governed by the neutrality treaty. And the Panamanian government has been a stalwart custodian of that treaty. However, if the US and China insist on making this a geopolitical issue, the influence of Panama is somewhat limited.

The Northeastern Arctic sea route north of Siberia is obviously a maritime chokepoint under strong influence by Russia.

Even though there is no reason to suspect presently that Egypt would weaponize the Suez Canal itself, it is still within the realm of possibility that Iran could do so given the range of its drones and missiles.

The weaponization of maritime chokepoints is nothing new. We have been used to a world in the past many decades where maritime trade was largely governed by economic forces and the advance of more free trade. We are now, however, seeing a world wherein geopolitical differences once more elevate the usage of such leverage to useful political tools, and the maritime industry — and the associated global supply chains — will have to adapt to a more complex landscape.

Asia-Europe air cargo rates remain elevated as Gulf tensions escalate

Peace talks between the US and Iran deteriorated this week, keeping air freight rates elevated and potentially stalling a recovery of flight operations into Persian Gulf airports that before the war handled a third of Asia-Europe air cargo traffic.

Spot rates from China to Europe hit $5.76 per kilogram in the first week of May, the highest this year, before easing slightly to $5.42/kg on May 11, according to the Baltic Air Index (BAI).

With demand for air cargo on the Asia-Europe corridor continuing to outstrip available capacity constrained by the war, an escalation of hostilities would also keep upward pressure on rates.

“Air space across parts of the Gulf remains restricted or closed … the biggest impact is being felt by Asia-Europe traffic,” BAI said. “In a system with little spare capacity, even modest disruptions now move rates quickly. Even when aircraft are available, longer flight times and operational instability reduce how much cargo they can carry. The result is simple: There is less usable capacity in the system.”

The Freightos Air Index also reflected a strengthening of rates. Spot rates from China to Europe on May 10 were up 57% since late February at $5.16/kg, almost 50% higher year over year.

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

NEWS BULLETIN ……. was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

Following the recent developments regarding IEEPA tariffs, importers may now be eligible to claim refunds on duties previously paid. We are happy to inform you that ITL is offering “refund support service” as a paid add-on.

Given the potential financial impact, we are assisting our clients with a structured approach to:

• Identify eligible import entries
• Validate duty payments
• Prepare and coordinate refund filings through U.S. customs systems
• Track and follow up on refund status

Now For Some Essential Read….

Maersk passing $500 million monthly fuel bill to customers ‘in full’: CEO

Maersk’s monthly bunker fuel bill has doubled to $500 million since the war in the Middle East began — and those costs are being recovered “in full” from the carrier’s customers via surcharges and revised bunker formulas, CEO Vincent Clerc said Thursday.

But Maersk’s ability to continue that cost recovery will depend on the long-term impact of high energy prices on consumer demand and how the container shipping industry manages growing excess capacity, Clerc told analysts during the carrier’s first-quarter earnings call.

“Our concern is a softening of the demand environment and insufficient capacity management across the industry, which will lead to an erosion of the recovery of costs on the short-term market, which could, depending on how much it will erode, quickly get you into a not-so-pleasant place in the second half of the year,” he said.

Ongoing Hormuz closure could expand bunker wait times globally: analyst

Keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed for another month would expand the two-week bunker refueling lead times now required in Asia across the globe and create a new price floor for low-sulfur fuel oil, energy analysts at S&P Global warn.

Much of Asia’s bunker fuel is sourced from Persian Gulf countries and exported via Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the US/Israeli war against Iran began Feb. 28. The availability of the fuel has tightened across key Asian hubs, where carriers report wait times of up to 15 days in Singapore and at Japanese ports.

“The 14-day lead time will become the global standard, not just an Eastern one,” Fotios Katsoulas, director and head of tankers, freight and alternative fuels research at S&P Global Energy, told the Journal of Commerce. “We anticipate a permanent price floor for very low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) in Asia as the cost of rerouting supply from the US and Europe becomes baked into the local market.”

Katsoulas said the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz will also lead to refining imbalances and potentially force a shift in production away from marine fuels toward higher-value distillates such as jet fuel and diesel, further strangling bunker availability.

Air freight supply-demand factors adjust to war-disrupted market

Air cargo markets are adjusting to the disruption caused by the war in the Middle East as capacity returns and supply-demand fundamentals are driven by seasonality and early May holidays rather than conflict-related factors, analysts say.

“The worst may be behind us,” Niall van de Wouw, chief air freight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta, said of the war-related disruption as rate increases showed signs of easing, even on corridors most impacted by the Middle East conflict.

“This is all logical because the spike in air freight rates was driven by a supply issue from the start,” van de Wouw said in an April market update this week. “Now capacity is coming back, (and) rates will come down, but not as quickly as they went up.

“The big question is what will be left in terms of demand after all the inflationary pressure, all the uncertainty, and all the tremendous increases in fuel and production costs ease?,” he added. “What will it mean for Q3 and Q4 because everything that has happened in the last few weeks was against a backdrop of a not-too-rosy outlook for 2026?”

Rising fuel costs forcing US truck shippers to shift freight

Diesel prices stuck above $5 per gallon are adding significantly to US trucking costs, squeezing shippers between rising rates and fuel surcharges and tightening capacity, with continued geopolitical uncertainty making a return to lower fuel prices unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Fuel’s headwinds are both global and domestic, with the impact of higher fuel costs on ocean and air cargo rippling deep into trucking and rail networks, putting pressure on transportation rates shippers pay and, eventually, the costs of goods to their customers.

War-linked bunker fuel surcharges are raising costs for US importers and exporters, and ocean shipping lines are trying to constrain costs through increased direct sailings and slow steaming. Soaring jet fuel costs are grounding air cargo capacity.

That’s already leading to some mismatch between freight and capacity once shipments arrive in the US, and that dislocation means more truck miles and higher fuel costs.

“People who had lead times built into supply chains, those lead times have been compressed,” Ryan Carter, executive vice president of the Americas at AIT Worldwide Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. Global disruption — whether caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz or a pandemic — expedites demand, he said.

Hapag-Lloyd, MSC to use feeders to restore upper Persian Gulf cargo links

Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Co. have become among the first ocean carriers to restore seaborne cargo links to the upper Persian Gulf that have been largely severed since early March due to the war in the Middle East.

The services, which include land bridge options to circumvent the still-effectively closed Strait of Hormuz, appear to be an acknowledgement by the liners that Hormuz will remain a no-go zone for the foreseeable future. Hostilities that flared there Monday demonstrate that reality.

Hapag and MSC have announced separate services in the last three days that use third-party feeder vessels to connect ports such as Dubai’s Jebel Ali, Damman in Saudi Arabia and Shuwaikh in Kuwait. It has allowed Hapag-Lloyd to resume cargo bookings for the upper Gulf, the carrier said in an advisory Monday, while MSC is using feeders to help launch an express service connecting Europe, the Red Sea and Middle East, it said over the weekend.

The carriers join CMA CGM, which has been using feeder vessels since March as part of a wider multimodal service network it launched in the region after lifting a brief halt in cargo bookings.

But Maersk said in an advisory Monday it would continue to suspend bookings for dry, reefer and in-gauge cargo to and from the UAE (except for Khor Fakkan), Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Shipping pallet, packaging sectors wade through ‘uncertainty’ in US freight demand

If wood shipping pallets are a reliable leading indicator of freight demand, the recent surge in US trucking rates may be signaling something other than a true market rebound.

Industry executives say the rise in rates is being driven less by increased freight volumes and more by higher operating costs — particularly diesel — combined with tightening capacity. That dynamic is creating a more fragile recovery, even as companies express cautious optimism about the second half of 2026.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now,” said Brent McClendon, president and CEO of Woodpack Global, an international trade association representing pallet manufacturers in 43 countries. “Demand remains inconsistent. When you’re connected to 90% of the goods that move, some sectors are strong while others are not.”

That uneven demand profile has become a defining feature of the current freight cycle.

Middle East fuel shock exacerbates rising US ag export costs

The war in the Middle East will further increase the cost of US agricultural exports — and further diminish global demand — after a 2025 in which growth slowed despite the efforts by shippers to replace a rapidly vanishing Chinese market.

War-linked bunker fuel surcharges, as well as soaring diesel prices for inland truck and rail movements, could “add tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to our costs,” Mike Symonanis, director of strategic network at Louis Dreyfus Company and chairman of the American Cotton Shippers Association, told the Journal of Commerce.

Symonanis said agricultural exporters are closely scrutinizing the surcharges, which will be most significant for small and midsize shippers, to determine whether they accurately reflect higher fuel costs borne by container lines.

“Generally, costs are going up and will continue to go up until there is an end to the war,” Friedmann said. “The fuel surcharges will have a cascading effect on ag shippers’ costs as they are phased in.”

And although the US itself is a large producer of fertilizers, growers could also face higher costs for fertilizers if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for too long, with crops that consume large quantities of ammonia and phosphates particularly vulnerable.

Gemini capacity cutbacks make India-Med market hotter for rival carriers

The capacity withdrawn by the Gemini Cooperation from the India-Mediterranean trade following its recent Middle East network adjustments has effectively tightened supply, thus proving a boon for active carrier participants in the market, market sources say.

Gemini partners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in early March, shortly after the war began, halted their independently branded ME11/IMX network operations linking the Middle East, India and the Mediterranean, and opened a revamped India-Middle East-Europe service (ME1/IOS) with access to a West Mediterranean hub.

The suspended ME11/IMX loop deployed ultra-large vessels with an average capacity of 15,000 TEUs to 16,000 TEUs, so space availability on the lane for Indian headhaul loads was substantial.

With lower space allocations now offered by Gemini for India-North Europe/Med loadings due to combined operations and comparatively smaller tonnage, existing competing carriers, most notably CMA CGM, have been able to keep their sailings on the routes maxed out and push rates higher, local freight forwarder sources told the Journal of Commerce.

CMA CGM serves the India-Mediterranean trade through its “Medex” service, which transits via the Red Sea/Suez Canal and loads for North Europe on its premier “Epic” loop.

According to an analysis of port flow data, CMA CGM’s weekly liftings out of West India for Medex and Epic sailings through April have hit a level of 5,000 TEUs per call on average, thanks to additional volume uptake from that altered supply-demand picture.

“All the recent vessels have sailed full despite persistent muted demand conditions,” said a forwarder executive who didn’t want to be identified. “CMA CGM has also benefited to some extent from the rotation update centered on Red Sea cargo demand via Jeddah [Saudi Arabia].”

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

NEWS BULLETIN ……. was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

NEWS BULLETIN …….

Dear Valued Customers,

As of 29 April 2026, the U.S. logistics market is moving into a cost-driven, tight-capacity phase rather than a demand-led cycle, with fuel prices emerging as the single biggest factor shaping the market.

Elevated diesel costs are putting pressure on trucking margins, forcing smaller carriers to exit and tightening available capacity, while larger players continue passing on costs through surcharges and pricing adjustments.

At the same time, shippers are increasingly shifting toward rail and intermodal solutions to control costs, indicating a clear preference for efficiency over speed.

Strategically, this signals a phase of high volatility, with shorter rate validity, frequent pricing changes, and more lane-specific disruptions.

Going forward, the key things to watch are fuel price movements, further carrier exits or consolidation, the pace of shift toward rail/intermodal, and any geopolitical developments affecting energy supply, as these will determine whether the market tightens further or starts stabilizing in the near term.

Now For Some Essential Read….

Tighter bunker supplies raising costs, but not impacting service: ocean carriers

Sea Island, Georgia — Container line executives on Tuesday acknowledged that bunker fuel supplies globally are tightening amid the war-driven energy shock, causing congestion at some fuel hubs and forcing some ships to bunker at alternative ports. But they stopped short of saying there were outright fuel shortages that were impacting services.

The tighter supplies are requiring more pre-booking work and coordination, but there haven’t been “shortages per se yet,” Fabio Santucci, president of Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s US office, said at the Georgia International Trade Conference.

Stuart Sandlin, president of Hapag-Lloyd North America, concurred, adding that while rising fuel costs are a problem, “there weren’t any red flags yet.”

Shipping analysts have warned that ocean carriers may be forced to blank sailings and even outright cancel services in the coming months if bunker fuel supplies continue to tighten amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil supplies typically transit. For now, the focus for shippers is getting a handle on how much more they’ll be paying for fuel, how those costs are calculated, and how much more energy costs could rise.

The roughly doubling of the cost of bunker fuel since the war in the Middle East began in late February has spurred ocean carriers to implement emergency fuel surcharges of hundreds of dollars per container, in addition to raising prices via the quarterly bunker adjustment factor (BAF).

Revised empty box fee at NY-NJ misses mark on accountability: analyst

The Port of New York and New Jersey’s revised empty container fee takes effect May 1. The question worth asking is not how much to charge — it is who is being charged, and whether the charge ever reaches the party making the decision.

On April 10, a three-mile line of trucks was sent home from Port Newark Depot because the 12-acre off-dock facility had run out of room for Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd empties. APM Terminals contracted the depot in February 2025 to handle Gemini Cooperation empties and preserve on-terminal space for loaded moves. Drivers burned hours-of-service in a queue that backed onto public roads.

Empty repositioning is a structural cost for ocean carriers, absorbed into rate structures and recovered in freight pricing. Spread across a 10,000-TEU vessel call, $100 per excess empty is a rounding error against voyage revenue. The carrier faces no vessel schedule or berth priority consequence beyond the invoice itself. The fee is a line item, not a lever.

Rerouted Middle East hazmat containers spark safety concerns at Indian ports

Indian ports offering temporary shelter to stranded Middle East-bound containers are grappling with multiple operational challenges. Notably, the pileup of rerouted hazardous or dangerous cargo containers on dock, especially at Nhava Sheva (JNPA), has become a serious concern for Indian authorities, local sources say.

That is because ocean carriers are unable to evacuate the containers quickly due to operational restrictions and/or landside constraints at alternative ports of discharge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

Khor Fakkan and Fujairah in the UAE and Sohar in Oman, which have become the supply chain lifeline for trades into the Persian Gulf during the war, are prioritizing general dry cargo handling. Additionally, vessels calling at Omani ports must pre-declare that they carry no dangerous goods.

According to data from industry sources, a leading European liner alone is holding about 600 TEUs of rerouted hazardous loads at Nhava Sheva as part of recent trade diversions, exposing the dock to potential safety risks. Sources told the Journal of Commerce that the port authority there has sounded alarm bells through stakeholders about the urgency of clearing accumulated dangerous boxes, saying the cargo could become a ticking time bomb if it continues to be stacked up inside.

Responding to that pressure, some carriers are now said to be exploring an alternative evacuation option via the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Adding to the alarm, the Nhava Sheva region reported multiple incidents of fires breaking out in off-site container storage depots over the past week, although the specifics of the cause were not immediately known.

Nhava Sheva’s transshipment volumes in March swelled to 121,247 TEUs, up from 34,883 TEUs in February before the war began, data shows.

Mundra, Kandla and Pipavav are the other Indian ports holding Middle East-bound hazmat boxes, albeit fewer than Nhava Sheva, sources say. The predicament of carriers facing Middle East port woes extends to the storage of local/gateway hazmat bookings — mostly Indian chemical exports — already picked up for loading.

Asian regional operators typically have a stronger appetite for hazmat handling, so they likely also have such volumes rerouted to India. One major factor driving that specialized shipping activity is the growing scale of lithium battery exports from China to the Middle East for renewable energy and electric vehicle needs, which have now accelerated due to the oil supply shock caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Singapore’s PIL bets on volume growth from vessel deliveries, new services

Singapore’s Pacific International Lines (PIL) says it’s set to see further growth in container volumes from new vessel deliveries and service launches this year despite difficult market conditions.

”While the year ahead remains challenging amid geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruption and new capacity entering the market, Asia continues to be a key engine of global trade growth,” PIL CEO Lars Kastrup said in an earnings statement Wednesday.

Highlighting the carrier’s Asia focus and volume growth potential, PIL said it will take delivery of at least two 13,064-TEU container ships this year, part of an order for five 13,000-TEU ships placed in 2024.

The ships, which could be deployed on long-haul Asia-South America and Asia-Middle East services, are part of a fleet expansion that will add 20 vessels totaling 232,000 TEUs in the next three years that will increase PIL’s fleet capacity to more than 700,000 TEUs.

Soaring truck rates power major rebound in domestic intermodal volume

North American railroads hauled more than 785,000 domestic containers in March, the third-highest monthly total on record and the strongest March ever, new data shows, as shippers shifted more freight from truckload to intermodal to offset rising highway transportation costs.

The jump in domestic intermodal volumes shows how quickly freight can move to rail when truckload pricing increases. But the sustainability of that shift will depend on whether railroads can shed the stigma of service meltdowns that occurred five years ago during the pandemic-related freight surge.

The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) reported March domestic volumes grew 9.5% year over year. That came as intermodal providers Knight-Swift Transportation and J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported more than 8% growth last month.

IANA also reported that first-quarter domestic intermodal volumes rose 4% over the first quarter of 2025.

“We are more optimistic today than we were in January in terms of truck conversion opportunities — primarily in our domestic intermodal business,” Maryclare Kenney, CSX Transportation’s executive vice president of sales, said on the railroad’s earnings call Wednesday.

Appeals court rules against Evergreen in Savannah detention fee case

The US Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. has ruled that Evergreen Marine improperly charged three days of detention fees to a drayage provider in Savannah six years ago when the port was closed over a holiday weekend.

The ruling, announced Tuesday, ends a long process during which the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) had to decide whether it was a prerequisite that a port be open in order for detention or demurrage fees to be levied.

“Evergreen suffered no costs as a result of the delayed equipment return,” wrote Judge Harry T. Edwards in the ruling. “These uncontested facts gave the [FMC] adequate grounds to decide that charging detention during the port closure would not have promoted freight fluidity and thus was unreasonable.”

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

YOUR SINGLE SOURCE SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS PROVIDER was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

As of 22 April 2026, the refund process for tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act has formally entered its execution phase, marking a major development for importers affected by these duties. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has activated the refund mechanism through its ACE platform, enabling companies to begin filing structured claims for recovery of previously paid tariffs. The rollout, which commenced on 20 April, has seen an immediate surge in participation, with thousands of importers submitting applications, although initial technical challenges and system congestion have been reported due to the scale of demand.

At present, the process is being implemented in phases, with the first phase primarily covering recent entries — generally those finalized within the past 80 days — while older and more complex entries are expected to be addressed in subsequent stages. Importers are required to submit detailed declarations identifying eligible shipments, after which CBP recalculates the duties excluding IEEPA tariffs and includes applicable interest before approving refunds. Once validated, payments are being processed electronically, with standard timelines currently estimated at approximately 60 to 90 days, although cases involving compliance checks, discrepancies, or previously liquidated entries may experience delays.

The scale of the program is substantial, with total refund exposure estimated at around $166 billion and participation expected to extend to hundreds of thousands of importers. It is important to note that refunds are being issued strictly to the importer of record who originally paid the duties, and there is no regulatory requirement mandating that these funds be passed down the supply chain. While this development is expected to provide meaningful liquidity relief to businesses, it is unlikely to immediately offset the broader cost pressures already absorbed across global supply chains.

Looking ahead, some uncertainty remains around the full execution of the program, particularly with respect to pending legal considerations, operational bottlenecks, and the handling of older entries. As a result, while the initiation of refunds is a positive step, companies should be prepared for a staggered and documentation-intensive process over the coming months, requiring careful monitoring and accurate submission to ensure successful recovery.

On the War front, the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has escalated into one of the most significant disruptions to global trade in recent years, creating widespread uncertainty across energy markets and supply chains. This narrow waterway, which facilitates nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and a substantial share of liquefied natural gas shipments, has seen a dramatic reduction in vessel movement due to heightened geopolitical tensions and direct security threats to commercial shipping.

As a result, the global supply chain is currently experiencing a dual shock — both in terms of price escalation and physical disruption. Energy markets have reacted immediately, with crude oil and gas prices rising sharply, driving up bunker fuel costs and, consequently, ocean and air freight rates.

The situation has created significant Vessel availability has become uneven due to ships being stranded or delayed in the Gulf region, while others are being diverted via longer routes such as the Cape of Good Hope, increasing transit times and further tightening global capacity. Freight forwarders and shippers are facing booking hesitations, limited space, and unpredictable schedules, making supply chain planning increasingly complex.

Now For Some Essential Read….

Hapag-Lloyd imposes emergency fuel surcharges on third-party feeder cargo

Hapag-Lloyd is widening its imposition of emergency bunker fuel surcharges to cover the extra fuel levies it is now being charged by third-party feeder and barge operators to offset oil prices driven higher by the war in the Middle East.

The new surcharges, announced by the carrier Tuesday, will be introduced immediately on cargo to and from specific locations in the Caribbean and South America before being progressively rolled out in other regions globally. Hapag said the surcharges, varying between $50 and $150 per TEU, will be applied both as an emergency operations charge at origin and an emergency operations charge at destination.

It comes a month after Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said the war has raised the carrier’s operating costs by $40 million to $50 million per week.

Hapag-Lloyd is thought to be the first carrier to announce such a measure, as other lines including Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM have yet to confirm their own fuel surcharges on feedered cargo.

The new charges are in addition to the standard emergency fuel surcharge (EFS) Hapag-Lloyd already charges customers.

“We are now facing explicit charges from our third-party feeder operators,” the carrier said in a customer advisory. “As the EFS covers incremental fuel costs within Hapag-Lloyd-operated services, these additional third-party charges require a separate surcharge.”

Gemini to suspend two more Middle East shuttles in May due to war

Gemini Cooperation is suspending two Mediterranean-Saudi Arabia shuttle services beginning in mid-May, adding to the tally of mainline and regional services the alliance halted last month due to the war in the Middle East.

The latest move was confirmed by Gemini partners Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk in separate advisories Tuesday.

The affected loops are the JED2/JD2 service calling at Tangier, Port Said East and Jeddah; and the JED3/JD3 that calls at Port Said East, Aqaba and Jeddah.

“This change reflects the consolidation of capacity into alternative services to ensure continued reliable coverage in the region,” Hapag-Lloyd said in its notice.

Maersk said cargo previously shipped on these shuttle connections would shift to the mainline AE19/SE4 service that was inaugurated on March 13 to largely replace the services that were stopped around the same time. The service connects Jeddah with Gemini’s West Med hub at Damietta in Egypt and the East Med hub at the Tanger Med port complex in Morocco, where it continues to Asia with calls at major ports including Tanjung Pelepas, Shanghai, Ningbo and Busan.

The suspension of the two shuttle services was being done to “optimize coverage and enhance overall service efficiency,” Maersk said in its advisory.

Freight returning to US LTL market as pricing, fuel costs climb higher

Fast-rising fuel costs and a long-awaited uptick in demand are pushing less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing toward record highs, adding to shipper supply chain costs.

Even if fuel costs drop in coming weeks, shippers shouldn’t expect LTL rates to follow.

Both the TD Cowen/AFS LTL Freight Index and the US long-haul LTL producer price index (PPI) last week jumped to record highs, with no sign of decline ahead. Anecdotal reports show daily shipment counts turning north after a long decline in 2024 and 2025.

“The LTL carriers are in a very unique position — their buckets are being filled from both ends,” said Andy Dyer, CEO of AFS, a third-party freight management company.

Those “ends” are the truckload and parcel markets, both of which have seen substantial rate hikes, Dyer said. That’s pushing more freight to the LTL sector. Shippers are “managing the freight, not just paying the freight,” he said.

That means they’re more willing to deconsolidate truckload shipments and consolidate parcel moves, and LTL rates that looked high last year now seem more reasonable.

MSC revamps Asia-USEC network

Mediterranean Shipping Co. is reworking its trans-Pacific network starting next month to offer more reliable, direct China services into US Northeast and Southeast ports, while providing coastwide direct service from Southeast Asia.

MSC said in a Thursday customer advisory that it is changing some port calls on its three main East Coast services to “enhance service reliability and schedule stability.” The new networks consolidate some China calls and will change some calls to Florida ports.

MSC’s Empire Service will drop a Qingdao call, with the service now only calling Shanghai, Ningbo and Busan on the front haul. Empire’s US rotation will drop the ports of Jacksonville and Miami in favor of calls to Norfolk and Port Everglades on the backhaul.

The service’s new rotation will commence with the scheduled May 27 departure of the 6,178-TEU MSC Leo VI from Shanghai. The carrier said Empire would be “less exposed to port congestion risks” due to the rotation change.

Qingdao will be added to MSC’s Amberjack service into the US Southeast. However, MSC will no longer provide direct service from Yantian and Xiamen but instead focus the service on northeast Asia ports. The service will also replace a call to Norfolk with a call to Jacksonville.

MSC said the Amberjack changes would improve transit times and network stability. The new rotation goes into effect with the service’s estimated May 20 departure from Qingdao.

MSC also said it would rework its Emerald service from Southeast Asia to drop a call to Taiwan’s Kaohsiung in favor of Xiamen, providing a direct service from that port into the largest US East Coast ports. The new rotation is expected to take effect with the May 18 departure from Singapore of the 7,000-TEU Zim Topaz.

Premier Alliance taps UAE’s Khor Fakkan for war-diverted cargoes

The Premier Alliance has tapped Khor Fakkan on the eastern side of the United Arab Emirates as its interim transshipment port for Middle East and Indian cargo on its Middle East-Asia-US West Coast GS2 service.

The group, whose members comprise Yang Ming Marine Transport, Ocean Network Express and HMM, suspended calls at Arabian Gulf ports on the GS2 service in March following missile and drone attacks and Iran’s subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Khor Fakkan “offers a relatively stable operating environment and will serve as the primary discharge hub operations” for vessels originally scheduled to call Middle East ports, Yang Ming said in a Thursday customer advisory.

“For cargo with final destinations within the Arabian Gulf region, onward transportation will be arranged via feeder vessels or alternative transshipment solutions to the respective final ports of discharge,” it added.

The shift to Khor Fakkan comes as Iran’s foreign ministry Friday announced the Strait of Hormuz is now “completely open” to commercial shipping for the duration of the Iran-US ceasefire, although the situation remains murky.

The Premier Alliance will begin calling at Khor Fakkan next week, with the first ship, the 16,000-TEU HMM Mir, due to berth Sunday and two other ships due to arrive by the end of the month, according to carrier vessel sailing schedules.

The alliance has been holding cargo onboard ships for the past month while it decided what to do with Arabian Gulf cargo after attacks made ports such as Saudi Arabia’s Damman and Dubai’s Jebel Ali too risky to use.

These ships are thought to include the 13,253-TEU HMM Peridot, which has been in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea since the end of March and is now due to call at Khor Fakkan early next week, according to vessel sailing data Friday. The 13,000-TEU HMM Garnet will be the third ship to call Khor Fakkan, with a scheduled arrival around April 26.

The Premier Alliance had also curtailed some sailings to Gulf ports, opting instead to route some eastbound services to the US West Coast from Singapore.

FMC to examine how container lines handle hazmat goods, isotopes

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is probing whether US exporters of hazardous materials and radioactive substances are being discriminated against by ocean carriers.

The agency said Wednesday its Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations and Compliance will start a non-adjudicatory investigation into ocean carrier practices “relating to hazardous cargo, including, but not limited to, radioactive cargo” and if those practices “discriminate against United States exporters and service providers.”

The FMC said they will seek information from the top 11 ocean carriers serving US trades, along with marine terminal operators, port authorities and forwarders.

The agency said it is seeking information about rules and practices regarding the acceptance or non-acceptance of hazardous cargo, including radioactive cargo, from US shippers who are licensed for such exports. The probe will also examine if ocean carriers have “exclusive agreements” for packaging and shipping hazardous materials and if that is a “just and reasonable regulation.

Bunker fuel shortages loom after US counter blocks Strait of Hormuz

Container lines face the prospect of major global shortages of bunker fuel within two or three months if oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted.

Such a scenario where fuel scarcity — particularly the low-sulfur kind — expands from South Asia to other bunkering locations globally would put a premium on ships equipped with exhaust scrubbers that are able to burn high-sulfur fuel.

About 40% of the global container shipping fleet have exhaust gas cleaning systems, according to Alphaliner. The scrubbers remove harmful sulfur oxides and particulate matter from marine exhaust fumes, allowing ships to burn high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) while complying with international IMO 2020 pollution regulations.

Carriers say there is still enough bunker fuel supply in general, but the different fuel types — very low-sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO), HSFO, marine gasoil (MGO) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) — are becoming unevenly distributed at key refueling hubs in Asia, notably Singapore.

“As of mid-April 2026, the Strait of Hormuz closure remains the primary driver of supply anxiety, forcing a significant shift in where vessels choose to lift fuel,” said Fotios Katsoulas, director and head of tankers, freight and alternative fuels research at S&P Global Energy. S&P Global is the parent of the Journal of Commerce.

“The global bunker market is currently defined by a sharp divide between well-stocked Western hubs and severely constrained Eastern corridors,” he added. “While we aren’t seeing widespread ‘dry’ ports, the tightness in specific regions — particularly around low-sulfur blends and high-viscosity fuel for project cargo vessels — is definitely a valid concern.”

Broad increase in US truck pricing seen gaining steam

The cost of trucking in the US is rising, no matter who’s doing the math.

Data from industry and government indexes such as the Cass Freight Index, the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index and the US Producer Price Index (PPI) all show higher trucking costs gained traction in the first quarter, particularly as fuel costs soared in March.

The three-year decline in freight demand may still be with us, but not the accompanying “rate recession.” Price increases are most evident in the truckload spot market but are being felt in contract rates and less-than-truckload (LTL) and intermodal rail rates, too.

The pricing data indicates that first-quarter rate hikes were more than a sign of short-term disruption caused by winter storms, signaling that shippers should brace for even higher costs.

Shipper-paid truckload spot rates in March reached levels not seen since 2022, according to Journal of Commerce research released last week. Those spot rates rose 17 cents from February to a weighted average of $2.73 per mile on lanes longer than 250 miles.

The unweighted national average on lanes greater than 250 miles rose 18 cents between February and March to $2.96 per mile, up 27.2% year over year, according to an analysis of data from Cargo Chief, DAT Freight & Analytics, Loadsmart, and other sources.

A 32% war-driven surge in retail diesel costs from February to March drove the gains in pricing. The average US retail diesel price jumped by $1.20 to $4.92 per gallon in March from the prior month, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

As of Monday, the US average diesel price at the pump was $5.61 per gallon, up more than $2, or 56.7%, from a year ago, according to the EIA.

Middle East war accelerates regional cross-border cooperation

The huge volume of diverted Middle East-bound ocean cargo that overwhelmed land transport systems in the region has accelerated collaboration between countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that will outlast the war, regional industry leaders say.

Decisions involving cross-border trade that before the conflict would have taken months are now being decided in days, speeding up road transits, freeing urgently needed capacity and easing customs procedures, a webinar organized by global road transport association IRU heard Wednesday.

“What we have witnessed so far is that it’s not six countries in the region responding independently to a crisis,” said Achraf Ellili, CEO of Flow Progressive Logistics in Saudi Arabia. “It’s a coordinated effort and the entire logistics ecosystem is working together.”

Ellili noted that cooperation between regional port authorities and customs regimes was happening “in real time across borders.”

“That level of GCC coordination is something that I’ve never seen before in nearly three decades in this industry, and it signals a maturity in the regional logistics ecosystem,” he said. “The corridors we have created are not going to go back into the box. This is a new normal for the Middle East.”

About 95% of all goods in the Persian Gulf countries are imported, mostly by ocean, and routed through the Middle East’s largest port — Jebel Ali in the UAE. When the war started on Feb. 28, the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed to commercial traffic and ocean carriers offloaded containers at ports en route, such as Singapore or Colombo, or at the ports of Fujairah and Sohar on the Gulf of Oman just outside Hormuz, or Salalah on the Arabian Sea.

Forwarders scrambled to find road transport solutions to get the stranded boxes to destinations in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq, and the land logistics were quickly overwhelmed by the wave of inbound volume.

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

IEEPA & WAR UPDATES ……. was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

We are actively monitoring the situation and remain in close coordination with our global partners and carriers. Our team is working proactively to minimize disruptions and provide alternative solutions wherever possible.

We will continue to keep you updated as the situation evolves. Please feel free to reach out to your usual contact for any shipment-specific planning or support.

Some Essential Read….

First wave of IEEPA refunds to US importers to start April 20: CBP

Refunds of tariffs paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) will start April 20 under a phased rollout, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The refund process, which will come as welcome news to importers, is being managed through a new tool, called Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE), that is being built within CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal).

The first phase of the refund process prioritizes so-called unliquidated entries and liquidated entries that are fewer than 80 days old. A liquidated entry means CBP has completed the final assessment of duties, taxes and fees, making the entry legal and closed.

CBP has said that the refund process will take up to 45 days once a CAPE declaration has been filed, but the agency has issued no formal timeline for when refunds might actually land in the accounts of importers.

To apply for IEEPA tariff refunds, importers must either have an ACE portal account or an automated clearing house (ACH) account so they can receive the refunds. Customs experts have advised importers to set up both to avoid delays in the refund process.

If a customs broker or other third party is authorized by an importer to act as a notify party on a customs entry, and if the broker is set up to receive refunds electronically, that party can receive refunds via ACH on behalf of an importer.

War-driven fuel costs add new twist to trans-Pacific service contract talks

Elevated energy prices due to the war in Iran are complicating, and in some cases slowing, some annual trans-Pacific service contract negotiations between container lines and US importers as emergency fees push up container spot rates.

Bunker fuel prices, which doubled in many key hubs in the days after the war in the Middle East began disrupting oil supply six weeks ago, have focused shippers’ attention on how the higher carrier operating costs will be passed onto them via bunker adjustment factors (BAFs) and emergency bunker fuel surcharges. Container lines can give few assurances on the limits to the higher costs their customers face as shipowners scramble to secure fuel supplies for May and June amid worsening scarcity.

Still, there is little concern that the increased attention on the fuel component of freight rates will derail finalizing 2026–27 service contracts, which typically go in effect May 1.

Hapag-Zim deal could ignite another merger wave in container shipping

Could another round of container shipping consolidation be approaching?

Hapag-Lloyd’s planned $4.2 billion acquisition of Zim Integrated Shipping Services, announced in February, shows a growing appetite among carriers for scale, including through consolidation, despite the lack of financial hardship that drove earlier rounds of industry mergers and aquisitions.

The risk of falling behind is acute. №1 carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co., at 21.6% of the global fleet by capacity following a massive expansion since the pandemic, is now more than three times the size of №5 Hapag-Lloyd and №6 Ocean Network Express (ONE), according to Alphaliner rankings, MSC has accounted for 33.6% of total container carrier fleet growth since 2000, according to the analyst.

As a result, midsize carriers — even those firmly within the top 10 — are realizing the urgency of building scale to remain competitive with the top carriers, pursuing that goal by aggressively acquiring tonnage and potentially considering the possibility of once unthinkable M&A.

Cathay Pacific cuts flights as soaring jet fuel prices hit operating costs

Cathay Pacific became the latest carrier to announce flight cuts and hikes in fuel surcharges in response to sky-high jet fuel prices that threaten to erase profitability on some routes.

The Hong Kong-based airline, one of the world’s largest cargo carriers, will reduce capacity by at least 2% from mid-May to the end of June, joining United Airlines, Air India, Air New Zealand, Delta Airlines, and Vietnam Airways in trimming services to reduce fuel costs that typically comprise almost 30% of an airline’s operating cost.

“In the past month, we have pursued every suitable means to keep our flights operating as normal … this includes adjusting the fuel surcharges in an attempt to mitigate the surge in jet fuel prices,” Cathay Pacific said in a statement Saturday. “Despite our best efforts, the measures we have taken to mitigate the heightened fuel costs have not been enough.”

The Cathay Pacific cuts will involve regional flights and some to Australia, South Asia and South Africa. The carrier has also extended the suspension of flights to Dubai and Riyadh until June 30 “in view of the ongoing situation in the Middle East.”

Cost-hit ocean carriers roll out series of rate increases, fuel surcharges

Ocean carriers have unveiled a raft of rate increases and emergency fuel surcharges on multiple trade lanes as high bunker prices push up operating costs across shipping networks.

Most of the increases represent a significant premium on current pricing levels, but it remains to be seen how sticky the aspirational rates will be with cargo markets also under pressure from high energy prices.

Carriers have been pushing general rate increases (GRIs) on Asia-US trade lanes to lift prices on the trans-Pacific.

MPV, deck carrier operators eye cargo demand surge from Iran war reconstruction

Rebuilding energy, petrochemical and other critical infrastructure in the Middle East that has been damaged during the war will drive a surge in cargo demand and freight rates in the multipurpose vessel (MPV) and deck carrier markets when the conflict ends, industry executives say.

“Reconstruction needs across the region will be considerable,” said Marco Poisler, chief operating officer for global energy and capital projects at project cargo logistics company UTC Overseas.

“The pent-up demand wave will hit a market that is not ready for it. And that, historically, is when freight rates for MPV project cargo move most sharply,” Poisler told the Journal of Commerce.

CMA CGM taps Jaxport as newest call for Asia express service

CMA CGM will add the Port of Jacksonville to its trans-Pacific express service, adding to the port’s roster of direct Asia services and tapping the recent modernization of Jaxport’s main marine terminal.

The Jacksonville Port Authority said in a statement Wednesday the Ocean Alliance will include the port on its Chesapeake Bay Express (CBX) service rotation as of this June. The CBX, operated exclusively by CMA CGM, calls Vietnam, China and South Korea before its eastbound rotation that includes US calls at Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah before Jacksonville.

Evergreen adds to order book with deal for six 24,000-TEU vessels

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine is adding to its lengthening order book with a deal for six 24,000-TEU container ships to be built at South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean shipyard, the carrier said Wednesday.

The value for the new order of LNG-fueled vessels is between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, Evergreen said in a filing to the Taiwan stock exchange.

The deal means Taiwan’s largest container line has splashed out more than $6 billion on new ships since November. Earlier contracts comprise orders worth almost $1.5 billion for 23 container ships in January and an order close to $3 billion for 14 14,000-TEU…

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

WAR & DISRUPTIONS CONTINUE……. was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

The ongoing Middle East conflict continues to place strong pressure on U.S. logistics, mainly due to severe disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, where vessel movement remains far below normal levels. Some ships have resumed limited passage, but overall transit remains highly restricted and subject to military risk, insurance approval, and cargo screening. This has kept global fuel markets unstable and raised bunker costs for ocean carriers.

Ocean freight rates remain elevated across major U.S. trade lanes. Even routes not directly touching the Gulf are affected because carriers are rotating vessels, reducing schedule reliability, and issuing rates only on a weekly basis instead of monthly. Asia–U.S. West Coast spot rates have climbed sharply since late February, while congestion at Asian transshipment hubs is slowing cargo bound for U.S. ports.

Higher oil prices are now feeding directly into fuel surcharges in air freight, trucking FSC increases across domestic U.S. lanes and carrier emergency bunker surcharges on ocean cargo.

Forwarders are seeing April bookings become more expensive mainly because fuel — not demand — is driving current freight inflation.

Operational outlook for April

U.S. importers are advancing purchase decisions, increasing safety stock, and accepting longer transit planning windows because shipping uncertainty remains high. If the current conflict continues through April, further carrier surcharges and selective port congestion are expected, especially on cargo arriving from Asia and the Mediterranean.

Other Essential Read….

FMC again rejects Maersk petition to waive notice period for emergency fuel surcharge

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has rejected a second request from Maersk to waive a 30-day notice period for the implementation of an emergency fuel surcharge, a spokesperson for the agency said Friday.

The unanimous rejection prevents the carrier from immediately implementing the fee, which is meant to help recoup fuel costs on US trades that have been driven higher due to the war with Iran.

Still, Maersk will only have to wait until April 8 to formally implement the fee, given that its waiver request to the FMC was made on March 11.

CMA CGM said to have deal with Iran to allow safe passage through Hormuz: sources

French ocean carrier CMA CGM is understood to have secured assurances from Iranian authorities guaranteeing safe passage for its 14 container ships trapped inside the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, industry sources with knowledge of the matter told the Journal of Commerce Friday.

Signaling that breakthrough, the Malta-flagged CMA CGM Kribi successfully transited the strait late Thursday local time, the first passage for a Western-operated container ship since the war between the US/Israel and Iran disrupted access to the crucial waterway five weeks ago.

Rising jet fuel costs challenging freighter viability as war enters second month

Rising energy prices are placing growing pressure on air freighter operators, with the soaring cost of jet fuel eroding margins and pushing part of the global fleet closer toward economic unviability.

Global jet fuel prices have almost doubled since the Middle East war began on Feb. 28, piling additional expenses onto an operating component that before the conflict was already more than 30% of total costs.

SeaLead warns of network disruptions in Persian Gulf war zone

Singapore-based carrier SeaLead has acknowledged that its services calling at ports in the Middle East war zone were experiencing challenges and that it is assessing contingency measures for all cargo on board affected vessels.

“The operational situation may result in broader disruptions, including potential equipment shortages and the use of alternative, more secure routing options,” the liner told customers in an advisory Thursday.

As part of that strategy, the carrier is said to have already flushed out the inventory of empty equipment it was holding in India.

Rubio, in escalation, criticizes China for detaining Panama-flag ships

The Trump administration Thursday escalated its concern over the recent detention of Panama-flagged vessels at Chinese ports, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the practice, “raise(s) serious concerns about the use of economic tools to undermine the rule of law…”

Rubio’s comments come a week after Laura DiBella, chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, said the agency was “closely monitoring” an apparent “surge” in detentions of Panama-flag ships by Chinese port authorities and the effect it could have on US container trade.

Singapore bunker supply continues to run down as Middle East war drags on

Suppliers in the world’s largest bunkering hub of Singapore are under growing stress, with analysts reporting less than a month’s supply remaining and no replenishment in sight from one of its most important fuel supply lines.

More than 50% of the city-state’s bunker fuel is believed to be imported via the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the war in the Middle East started on Feb. 28. Although Singapore remains able to refuel ships, the clock is ticking on the available supply, according to Fotios Katsoulas, director and head of tankers, freight and alternative fuels research at…

Montreal shippers get new north-south service from CMA CGM

CMA CGM has added the Port of Montreal to its main north-south liner service for the North American East Coast, the carrier said Wednesday, with the new service also offering a transshipment option for Canadian exporters looking to reach global markets.

The CMA CGM Homere is expected to make its first call to the Cast Terminal at Montreal on April 5, according to the carrier’s schedule. The 1,713-TEU ship is part of CMA CGM’s Cagema service with a northbound rotation including Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, New York-New Jersey, Montreal and Port Saint John.

India delays cabotage rewind plan amid carrier pressure, Middle East reroutings

India will delay by six months the enforcement of a rebooted cabotage policy that sought to revoke the coastal shipping freedom extended to foreign-flag vessel operators in 2018. The incumbent regulatory support has long enabled carriers to freely move laden containers for transshipment and empty boxes for repositioning intra-country.

The Ministry of Ports & Shipping, in announcing the reprieve Tuesday, said the decision to push back the late-April implementation is in response to industry appeals and the Middle East crisis, which has left Indian ports handling significant rerouted volumes of stranded Persian Gulf-bound containers.

Appeals court upholds FMC rules on carrier refusal-to-deal, export policies

An appeals court has denied a challenge to US shipping law that blocks ocean carriers from unfairly denying vessel space to exporters, ruling that the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has broad latitude to review a carrier’s rates and export policy when it believes such violations occur.

A three-judge panel for the District of Columbia appellate court on Tuesday turned down the World Shipping Council’s (WSC’s) petition to review a section of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA-22) that bars ocean carriers from “unreasonably refus[ing] to deal or negotiate … with respect to vessel space accommodations.”

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

WAR & DISRUPTIONS CONTINUE……. was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

The ongoing war-related instability in the Middle East continues to affect U.S. logistics across ocean, trucking, fuel, and airfreight sectors.

Carriers are maintaining diversions away from the Suez Canal / Red Sea corridor because of continued security concerns linked to Houthi attacks. This is adding 10–14 days transit delay for Asia–U.S. East Coast cargo and keeping vessel schedules highly irregular. Importers are seeing fresh emergency surcharges and reduced equipment availability for April bookings.

Rising diesel prices are keeping trucking costs elevated across the U.S. Diesel has remained above USD 5 per gallon, leading carriers to maintain stronger fuel surcharge recoveries and firm spot-market pricing, especially on dry van lanes. Fuel surcharge programs on many U.S. trucking contracts are currently moving in the mid to upper 50% range, depending on base fuel index formulas and lane contracts.

Tariff-related uncertainty is also affecting importer planning, as businesses continue advancing shipments to secure inventory before possible policy changes under ongoing U.S. trade reviews. East Coast ports are expected to face uneven vessel arrivals in April if delayed ships from diverted routes begin arriving in clusters. Air cargo remains expensive due to longer routings caused by restricted Middle East airspace and continued war-risk surcharges. Overall, U.S. logistics costs are expected to remain firm through April unless fuel prices soften or regional tensions reduce

Other Essential Read….

FMC ‘monitoring’ recent detention of Panama-flag ships at Chinese ports

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is “closely monitoring” an apparent “surge” in detentions of Panama-flag ships by Chinese port authorities and the effect it could have on US container trade, according to the agency’s chairman.

Laura DiBella says the moves appear to be retaliation for the Panamanian Supreme Court recently nullifying the operating concessions at Panama’s Balboa and Cristóbal ports that were held for 28 years by Panama Ports Company (PPC), which is 90% owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.

DiBella, in a statement Thursday she said represented her views and not the FMC’s.

Hormuz closure triggers ‘havoc’ for project logistics supply chain

The near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war in the Middle East will haunt global breakbulk and project markets long after the final missiles are fired, sector specialists say.

The paralysis is triggering a shift from initial price shocks to actual physical shortages of fuel and goods. On the ground, the logistics of moving breakbulk and project cargo goods has become a balancing act of cancellations and rerouting.

Many carriers are refusing to even quote for cargo entering the war region due to skyrocketing insurance premiums. The disruption is also creating a “lag impact” that will persist for months. “There will undoubtedly be ships out of position, cargo out of position, and there’s going to be a knock-on effect.

Drone strike closes key Middle East transit hub of Salalah

A drone strike on Saturday closed the APM Terminals regional hub of Salalah in Oman, disrupting operations at one of the key access points for containers being offloaded and trucked overland to Persian Gulf markets that are otherwise inaccessible by ocean due to the war.

One port worker was injured in the attack, and a container terminal crane was damaged. No one has claimed responsibility for the strike, although some media is reporting that the drones were fired by Houthi militants in neighboring Yemen.

War adding $40-$50 million per week to Hapag-Lloyd’s costs: CEO

The war in the Middle East has raised Hapag-Lloyd’s operating costs by $40 million to $50 million per week, a reality that “is not something that you can sustain for very long,” the carrier’s CEO said Thursday.

Rolf Habben Jansen told reporters during a briefing that most of the new costs were coming from rising bunker fuel prices, with other areas such as insurance, container storage and inland transportation adding millions of dollars to weekly expenses.

Bunker fuel shortages in Asia at tipping point as war disruption continues

The availability of bunker fuel in Asia for ocean carriers is manageable for now but beginning to tighten, and global suppliers warn that shortages will be felt around the world should the Strait of Hormuz remain closed to ship traffic for much longer.

Meanwhile, carriers are deploying a range of strategic operational and financial measures to mitigate the potential fuel shortages and the rising prices that will result. These include slow steaming to conserve fuel, filling ships in the US and Europe and transferring bunkers to Asia, and levying emergency fuel surcharges to recover rising costs.

The implications of widening…

Hurdles in Persian Gulf test carriers moving stranded Asian cargo from India

As Middle East-bound containers sourced from Asia continue to make their way into Indian ports for temporary shelter, container lines are concurrently trying to evacuate them on available shuttle capacity for the final leg of their connection. But carriers are being hobbled by multiple operational and systematic challenges at alternative Persian Gulf gateways, according to industry insights.

Market sources say an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 TEUs have landed at Indian ports thus far, with Nhava Sheva (JNPA) terminals alone accounting for 25,000 TEUs of discharges.

UP adjusts intermodal pricing to win back volume as truckload rates climb

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) on Tuesday adjusted rates for rail-owned boxes used by intermodal marketing companies (IMCs), the second such move in the last five weeks amid a widening gap between the truckload spot market and domestic intermodal rates.

The pricing adjustments, which go into effect April 1, cover freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates on nearly 30 lanes on so-called EMP boxes and UMAX boxes which interchange with Norfolk Southern and CSX, respectively. About half of the adjustments seek a rate increase, ranging from 1.6% to 14.8%, while the other half actually lower rates between 1.2% and 29%.

Europe Union approves US trade deal, but sets firm conditions

The European Union has approved a trade deal with the US that was agreed to last year, but set conditions aimed at protecting the European Commission from the frequent and unpredictable adjustments of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Opportunistic regional lines rush to Middle East corridor amid mainliner pause

The Middle East crisis is driving a fresh influx of capacity into major Indian ports from smaller, nimble liner operators willing to offer wider Persian Gulf port reach despite the war.

That comes as long-haul carriers keep operations in the conflict region either suspended or limited to certain ports deemed safe.

Several opportunistic regional carriers, typically second- and third-rung players in the industry, have opened new dedicated shuttle services connecting Nhava Sheva and Mundra in India to the Middle East/Persian Gulf corridor, according to market sources.

Gulf Feeder Shipping is one notable name among those rushing into the market.

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

WAR & IT’S EFFECTS ON SUPPLY CHAIN was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

The ongoing Iran–U.S.–Israel conflict remains the single biggest geopolitical risk affecting global supply chains this week. The most immediate concern is disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade normally passes. Tanker movements remain restricted, insurance premiums for vessels have surged sharply, and many carriers are either delaying Gulf calls or rerouting cargo through safer corridors, adding transit uncertainty across Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

Energy markets remain highly volatile. Brent crude briefly crossed critical levels again after renewed threats around Gulf energy infrastructure, although markets softened after reports of temporary diplomatic talks. Reduced Saudi crude allocations to Asia and lower refinery exports from India and South Korea are tightening fuel availability, which directly increases bunker adjustment factors and ocean freight operating costs.

For logistics, the biggest operational impact is on fuel cost escalation, vessel schedule instability, and carrier risk surcharges. Shipping lines serving Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Europe corridors are reviewing emergency surcharges because fuel replacement cargoes are being sourced from Europe and the U.S. instead of traditional Gulf origins. This is likely to push ocean freight upward in Q2, especially for energy-linked commodities, chemicals, polymers, and industrial raw materials.

Air freight is also under pressure because several Gulf air corridors remain sensitive, forcing route adjustments and increasing flight times for cargo carriers moving between Asia and Europe. This may lead to higher airfreight rates on urgent shipments, particularly electronics, pharma, and automotive parts.

If military escalation continues this week, expect continued volatility in freight costs, tighter vessel capacity into Gulf-linked trades, and possible new emergency surcharges by carriers. If diplomacy holds, markets may stabilize, but supply chains will remain cautious through April.

Other Essential Read….

US resin shippers look to tap new customers amid Iran war

US resin exports have ticked higher as the war in the Middle East shuts off the largest source of global plastics supply. The sustainability of the export demand, though, hinges largely on the war’s duration and the capacity of North American producers to make more resin.

The bookings come as Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have cut off the Middle East’s resin producers from world markets. The Middle East accounts for 15% of global polyethylene supply, the most widely traded type of resin, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The disruption in the Gulf has already sent US polyethylene prices higher. “The sharp price increases reflected a fundamental shift in global supply dynamics, as the US emerged as the primary supplier of polyethylene … following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,”

Hurdles in Persian Gulf test carriers moving stranded Asian cargo from India

As Middle East-bound containers sourced from Asia continue to make their way into Indian ports for temporary shelter, container lines are concurrently trying to evacuate them on available shuttle capacity for the final leg of their connection. But carriers are being hobbled by multiple operational and systematic challenges at alternative Persian Gulf gateways, according to industry insights.

Sohar in Oman and Fujairah and Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates have become the contingency lifeline for supply chain stakeholders following widespread port suspensions and disruptions across the Middle East in the aftermath of hostilities between the US/Israel and Iran.

A 5 million-TEU capacity terminal makes Gulftainer’s Khor Fakkan facility the favorite carrier transit option, but limited availability of reefer handling capacity across all three alternative ports, particularly Fujairah, is a major concern for carriers.

Middle East war will ‘amplify’ volatility in global supply chains: Cosco

Geopolitical tensions, heightened by war in the Middle East, will accelerate the pace of regionalization in global trade and nearshoring this year while “amplifying the volatility of global supply chains,” Cosco Shipping said Thursday.

Momentum for global economic growth is weak, and the external environment for the container shipping industry remains severe, the liner shipping and terminals group said in its 2025 results statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange.

“Looking ahead to 2026, the complexity and uncertainty of the container shipping market will further intensify,” Cosco said.

More favorably for global trade, Cosco said emerging economies are showing strong growth potential, cooperation among developing countries is warming and tariff uncertainties have temporarily eased. Cosco specifically highlighted Southeast Asia and Latin America, where demand is strengthening, buoyed by the widening implementation of free trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in Asia.

China’s biggest shipping company said the imbalance between cargo demand and fleet growth will also ease this year, with cargo volumes rising by a “low to moderate 2.5%” compared with 3.8% fleet growth, “the lowest in the past three years.”

While this increase in capacity is likely to put downward pressure on freight rates, the impact could be mitigated by port congestion caused by the realignment of carrier alliance networks and the war in the Middle East, the carrier said.

Reefer shippers play waiting game with boxes stuck outside Persian Gulf

Düsseldorf — Cold chain shippers with containers destined for the Middle East are in a state of suspended animation with reefer boxes offloaded early at other ports in the region and no timeline on when their voyages will be able to resume through the war zone.

Ocean carriers have suspended the acceptance of reefer, dangerous goods and special cargo in and out of the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia until further notice.

Reefer containers that were inbound when the war started on Feb. 28 have been dropped off and plugged into reefer slots in terminals outside the Persian Gulf, accruing mounting storage charges and leaving cargo owners waiting until shipping can again pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Alternatively, cargo owners will need to start looking for new markets.

Hapag-Lloyd to invest $1 billion across Indian maritime verticals

Hapag-Lloyd is moving to expand its business profile in India via an investment of about $1 billion in a move designed to play catch up with competitors while aligning with local regulatory changes.

The German liner announced the multi-pronged growth plan on Thursday as a contingent of company executives, including CEO Rolf Habben Jansen, visited Mumbai.

The expansion program includes reflagging four of Hapag-Lloyd’s container ships to the Indian registry and participating in terminal infrastructure development at Vadhavan, a greenfield deepwater harbor project about 100 miles north of Mumbai, the carrier said in a statement.

“India is one of the most important growth markets in global trade and a key strategic partner for Hapag-Lloyd,” Habben Jansen said. “We want to further strengthen our long-standing relationships with India and support the country’s ambitions to expand its maritime capabilities, enhance global connectivity and advance sustainable shipping.”

War reignites tussle between ocean carriers, cargo owners over fuel surcharges

The speed and severity of the jump in global oil prices amid the war in the Middle East have reignited long-standing suspicions by cargo owners that fuel surcharges levied by ocean carriers are used as a revenue stream rather than a cost recovery mechanism.

And while the traditional linkage between fuel costs and BAFs has fractured due to the rapid escalation of the war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Vizion analysis, shippers nonetheless are retaining a cynical view of the emergency fuel surcharges.

Several carriers have announced emergency bunker fuel surcharges on top of quarterly fuel price adjustments to recover costs in what is a core operational expense, but the moves have sparked growing concern from shippers.

“The US got it right when the [Federal Maritime Commission] required 30-day notice periods before surcharges could take effect on US services,” Hookham said. “The current surcharging behavior will only hasten demands for similar notice periods to become mandatory worldwide.”

Potential new US tariffs cloud sourcing strategies, peak season demand

Importers buoyed by a February US Supreme Court decision that overturned billions of dollars of tariffs they paid are now coming to grips with a new wave of tariffs that are likely to burden their inventory replenishment and holiday shipping plans.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) last week launched two separate Section 301 investigations covering a total of 60 countries: one related to “structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors” and a second aimed at forced labor. Should the investigations result in additional tariffs — widely expected to be the outcome — those duties will heap more cost pressure and customs administrative work on US importers, as well as reduce the appeal of sourcing from countries seen as lower-tariff alternatives to China.

The structural capacity investigation will look into whether 16 different countries or trading blocs, including China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the EU, are imposing policies or practices that “burden or restrict US commerce.”

The broader investigation into forced labor covers virtually every major US trading partner and can be seen as the US Trade Representative (USTR) trying to replicate the scale of President Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs that were eventually struck down. In the interim, Trump has used Section 122 of the Trade Act to temporarily assess 10% tariffs on all US imports, outside of goods exempted through existing trade agreements.

The pace of the investigations also hints at the administration’s desire for the new tariffs, or at least the threat thereof, to be in place by the time the Section 122 duties expire on July 27. Comments on both investigations are due April 15, with hearings for the forced labor and structural capacity inquiries scheduled for April 28 and May 5, respectively.

In announcing the probes, USTR said it has requested consultations with all governments named in the investigations. All the economies named in the structural capacity inquiry are also involved in the forced labor investigations, which means the trade representative will be looking to have conversations with 60 different entities in the coming months, presumably to use the threat of tariffs as leverage.

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

UPDATES ON WAR & IT’S EFFECTS ON SUPPLY CHAIN was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

As of 16 March 2026, the latest position on IEEPA is that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is continuing development of a dedicated refund mechanism inside ACE called CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries) to process previously paid IEEPA duties following the Court of International Trade order.

While the court ruling directing removal of IEEPA duties remains valid, actual refunds are not yet being issued, as CBP is still completing system testing and has been asked to provide a further status report to the court by 19 March 2026. Current indications are that the first operational phase may begin around 20 April 2026, subject to final court approval and system readiness.

Importers and customs brokers are expected to submit eligible entry data electronically through ACE once the CAPE portal goes live, after which CBP will reliquidate entries, remove IEEPA Chapter 99 tariff lines, calculate interest, and issue refunds electronically.

Other tariff programs such as Section 301, Section 232, and AD/CVD remain unaffected and continue to apply normally.

Anticipated Refund Process through ACE

1. Importers will submit a declaration in ACE identifying entries where IEEPA duties were paid.
2. ACE will validate each entry and recalculate duties excluding IEEPA tariffs, including applicable interest.
3. CBP will review and verify submitted declarations.
4. Eligible entries will be liquidated or reliquidated as appropriate.
5. Refund values will be aggregated at importer level.
6. CBP will certify approved refunds.
7. The United States Department of the Treasury will issue electronic payment through ACH.

ACH Readiness Requirements

1. ACH authorization should be verified in ACE under Importer Subaccount → ACH Refund Authorization.
2. Existing ACH users do not need further action.
3. Routing data and address consistency should be reviewed carefully, especially for foreign entities.
4. ACE account access issues linked to EIN registration should be resolved in advance.

How we can support you

1. Review historical entries to identify IEEPA-affected transactions.
2. Assess liquidation status and protest eligibility.
3. Estimate potential refund value including interest exposure.
4. Prepare importer data for ACE declaration filing once activated.
5. Monitor CBP implementation notices and court deadlines.
6. Support you in avoiding delays caused by ACH enrollment gaps.

Now for some Essential Read on IEEPA and the War….

CBP lays out initial tariff refund plan that requires ‘minimal’ work from importers

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will need 45 days to set up the process for importers to begin receiving refunds for tariffs charged under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). But those shippers will not have to sue the administration for relief, according to a declaration filed with US Court of International Trade (CIT).

“This new process will require minimal submission from importers,” CBP said in the filing, made Friday. “It will also minimize errors by ensuring accurate IEEPA refund calculations through system validations and allowing for a review period for CBP to resolve any discrepancies with the importer and to confirm no other outstanding enforcement issues or no revenue is owed.”

CIT earlier in the week ordered CBP to immediately refund the estimated $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs paid by shippers before the US Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump did not have the authority to impose them. Refund payments will also include interest, which would cost the US government an additional $23 million for each day that passes prior to payment, according to an estimate from the CATO Institute.

However, because “existing administrative procedures and technology are not well-suited to a task of this scale,” it would have taken more than 4 million hours for agency workers to manually examine shipment documentation to determine refund amounts, CBP said in the filing.

Crucially, the process being set up by CBP “would spare the hundreds of thousands of small businesses who are owed refunds from having to litigate to obtain them,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer of the US Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement Friday. As of March 4, more than 2,000 importers had already filed lawsuits with CIT seeking refunds since the Feb. 20 Supreme Court ruling.

Shippers would receive the refund as a single payment, regardless of how many shipments or different cargoes they imported, according to the filing. CBP estimates there are more than 330,000 importers eligible for refunds on more than 53 million customs entries.

US exports to Middle East in limbo amid war zone service disruptions

US exporters are scrambling to locate containers they have shipped to the Middle East but were subsequently dropped off at unknown ports after ocean carriers were forced to halt almost all services due to the war with Iran.

While the logistical hurdles for Middle East cargo are more of an inconvenience at this point for US exporters rather than a full-blown crisis, shippers see a bigger risk in the war’s longevity and the downstream effect of higher oil prices.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. invoked an “end of voyage” clause this week on exports into Jebel Ali in Dubai, allowing the carrier to discharge containers at the next available port on the ship’s rotation, forwarders tell the Journal of Commerce. The end-of-voyage clause also includes an $800 surcharge.

Stephen Zambo, president of third-party logistics provider AGL Group, said he has about 70 containers on the water with MSC destined for the Middle East. He is now figuring out where the next port of call will be for those boxes and bracing his customers for more costs and delays due to the redirections.

Along with those containers, AGL has three containers on the ONE Majesty that was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Although the vessel suffered some damage, Zambo was told the ship would continue its original voyage.

Reviewing new routes

The director of global logistics for a Houston-based chemicals company told the Journal of Commerce he is expecting his iso-tanks onboard MSC vessels destined for Jebel Ali to land in India now due to the end-of-voyage clause.

He is now looking at new routes outside of the Middle East’s main port. CMA CGM, which last week suspended all Middle East bookings, on Wednesday reopened bookings for alternative ports such as the UAE’s Khor Fakkan or Oman’s Sohar port, which sit outside of the Strait of Hormuz. CMA CGM is also offering service to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Jeddah and trucking cargo from there.

But Jeddah would also involve transiting the Red Sea, which raises the risk of a potential attack by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. The source said the regional risk is such that MSC has also suspended bookings into Israel’s Haifa, leaving Zim Integrated Shipping Services as the only carrier to service that port. MSC’s suspension of Haifa service could not be independently confirmed.

“The Red Sea is a mess,” the executive said. “I have no confidence it will get there.” He added that he’s looking to move containers to Egypt’s Port Said, a transshipment hub outside of the immediate warzone at the northern end of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean Sea.

Outside of servicing his customers, the source said his main concern now is how the oil price spike will play out for the economy. The cost of intermediate chemicals from the Middle East, including ammonia and cyclo-hexane, has jumped, resulting in further cost pressures for his own company’s products.

“Fuel costs are going to kill everybody,” he said. “That’s the wildcard.”

Ocean carriers employ effective capacity management despite market volatility

As of 2026, the carrier industry has come a long way in mastering the art of blank sailings, redeployments, slow steaming and other forms of proactive capacity management, mitigating the impact of much-discussed overcapacity.

Many others have noticed what amounts to a fundamental shift from the pre-COVID state of the industry and a likely long-term reality of the market going forward. The new reality is that the industry can no longer be understood in terms of supply and demand on paper, and must consider multiple forms of brakes on capacity.

“We see this very clearly in the market on a day-to-day basis,” said Serkan Kavas, executive vice president for imports at MTS Logistics in New York, who attended TPM26. “Since the COVID cargo surge ended, carriers have become much more disciplined in managing capacity through blank sailings and vessel deployment to maintain rate levels.

“With excess supply still present, capacity management will remain one of the most important tools carriers rely on over the next few years, regardless of how volatile the macro environment is,” he added.

The industry is experiencing an “illusion of a normal down cycle,” Flexport’s global head of ocean, Trine Nielsen, told TPM26 on March 2. “We do have the macro volatility layer, as we call it, and I think just the past week and a half [of the Middle East war and Supreme Court tariff ruling] … is the perfect proof of how quickly the world changes.”

Nielsen added: “We do have what we call micro volatility, and we see this becoming more and more frequent. One aspect is the capacity management, dealing with blank sailings, dealing with [cargo] rollings, equipment issues that, of course, are becoming even more difficult considering the macro environment that we’re in.”

Middle East shipping disruptions boost US position as top LNG exporter

As historic shipping disruptions in the Middle East squeeze global oil and natural gas supplies, a slew of projects is setting up the US to expand its role as the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter while continuing to generate breakbulk and project cargo activity.

Approximately one-fifth of global LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains shut and where multiple cargo ships came under attack this week. Meanwhile, in the US — which is already the world’s largest LNG exporter — LNG export capacity is expected to nearly double in the next five years, while overall natural gas production is on pace to reach record highs, according to recent analyses by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Michael Mørland, Atlantic project cargo director for Norwegian multipurpose vessel (MPV) operator G2 Ocean, told the Journal of Commerce that LNG capacity expansion in the US has generated significant breakbulk and project flows over the past 10 years. “We expect this development to continue into the next decade, regardless of short-term geopolitical disruptions,” he said.

Carriers seek to offload stranded Asia-Middle East containers at Indian ports

An estimated 100,000 TEUs of Far East-originated cargo that has become stranded en route to the Middle East is set to land across Indian ports as ocean carriers divert from the war zone, market sources in India say.

All major long-haul liners are seeking temporary supply chain asylum at Indian docks to offload containers that departed ports in China and Southeast Asia in recent days, according to local industry sources who spoke with the Journal of Commerce.

Representatives from Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express, and Cosco Shipping are already in discussions with authorities at the Indian West Coast ports of Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Pipavav and Kandla to strike yard space deals for the storage of diverted loads, the sources said.

With a planned rerouting count of approximately 40,000 TEUs, Maersk is also considering Gangavaram Port on India’s southern East Coast as an additional discharge point, the sources added.

FMC says ‘closely monitoring’ carrier rate moves tied to Middle East war

The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Wednesday told shippers to check their ocean freight bills for any surcharges related to the war in the Middle East that have not been formally reviewed by the agency, as carriers look to recoup additional costs from rising bunker fuel prices and disrupted networks.

In a statement Wednesday, the agency said it is “closely monitoring the impact the current conflict in the Middle East is having on shipping conditions through the Strait of Hormuz” and any rate adjustments ocean carriers are making in response.

The FMC reminded shippers that any change in the ocean tariff must come with a 30-day notice period prior to implementation so it can be reviewed by the agency. The only exception is a “special permission” request, which can have a shorter notice period.

“Shippers are encouraged to access and review their common carrier’s tariff,” the FMC said. “Ocean common carriers are responsible for ensuring that service contracts and their amendments are filed in a timely and accurate manner.”

Ocean carriers began assessing war-related surcharges for any shipments to and from the Persian Gulf states on March 2, the Iran declared that any commercial ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to attack. Within a day of that announcement, five commercial ships were attacked.

While those surcharges were effective immediately for non-US trades, ocean carriers did say US trades to the Middle East would be subject to a 30-day notice period.

By Monday, ocean carriers began telling customers of emergency fuel surcharges on all global trades. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has throttled shipments of one-fifth of global oil supply and resulted in fuel shortages in an important bunkering region for the shipping industry.

Waves of diverted containers swamping Middle East ports

Congestion from unexpected volumes is building at container ports outside the war-torn Persian Gulf as cargo that was en route to ports located on the west side of the narrow Strait of Hormuz is discharged early.

Ports across the Persian Gulf — including regional transhipment powerhouse Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait — were shut down after the US launched air strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Some of the ports have since resumed operations, but vessel arrivals remain limited as the war rages on.

Bottlenecks are growing at ports closest to the Persian Gulf with mounting congestion at Khor Fakkan on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, Sohar in Oman, Karachi in Pakistan and Mundra and Nhava Sheva in India, according to Destine Ozuygur, senior market analyst at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta.

“Essentially, it’s still a matter of ‘how close can we get to our original destination without putting our crews at risk and what does our insurance coverage allow?’” she told the Journal of Commerce Tuesday.

Another wave of containers is inbound as carriers look for ports to discharge cargo that had already departed Asia when booking suspensions were announced for the ports in the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

“[The containers] will be split with some discharging at major transshipment hubs like Singapore, Colombo [Sri Lanka] and Tanjung Pelepas [Malaysia] and others trying to get closer to Indian ports or even to the east coast of the UAE,” she said. “But at this stage the closer you get to the conflict, the more you can expect to face delays.”

China, India warn carriers on higher pricing tied to Middle East conflict

Indian and Chinese regulatory authorities are warning container lines against price gouging via surcharges tied to the war in the Middle East as ocean carriers levy additional fees in the thousands of dollars.

China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) said in a Tuesday statement that it has spoken to representatives of Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. “regarding international shipping operations.” The ministry expressed concerns about the suspension of service from China to the Middle East, along with additional charges and higher rates being sought by carriers, two people familiar with the matter told The Financial Times.

Due to the war in the Middle East, the Gemini Cooperation of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is suspending some Middle East services, including those to Europe and Asia as well as regional shuttles. The alliance is also adding a new Asia-Europe loop that would partially replace the suspended east-west services.

Carriers have defended the rate increases for shipments out of Asia and elsewhere, citing the higher cost of operating given that port congestion in the Middle East has tied up 2% of total container tonnage and more than 200,000 TEUs of equipment are trapped in the Persian Gulf.

Separately, Indian regulators on Tuesday warned ocean carriers not to engage in “predatory pricing” to the detriment of Indian importers and exporters. The Directorate General of Shipping specifically stressed the need to ensure transparency in freight charges to avoid potential disputes, adding that exporters and importers must know their logistics costs up front.

The regulatory intervention follows complaints from shipper groups about carriers levying war risk surcharges, sometimes retroactively, in the range of $2,000 per TEU and $3,000 per FEU for dry boxes and up to $4,000 per refrigerated container.

Sunil Vaswani, executive director of the CSLA, said carriers serving the India-Middle East trade imposed the surcharges to offset additional operating costs driven by the sudden closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Despite the challenges, container lines are making every effort to assist the trade,” Vaswani explained.

The subject of carrier surcharges and ancillary fees in container supply chains has been contentious for decades. And foreign carriers that typically enjoy a capacity fiefdom in the market had resisted previous efforts by Indian logistics policymakers to create a regulated pricing environment, with terminal handling charges at the heart of that acrimonious debate.

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on these subjects…….

IEEPA & WAR UPDATES was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear Valued Customers,

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) continues to face significant legal and policy developments as of 6 March 2026.

Recent court rulings in the United States have challenged the administration’s use of IEEPA to impose broad tariffs on imports, stating that the authority to levy tariffs primarily lies with Congress.

Following these rulings, importers have begun seeking refunds for duties previously collected under IEEPA-related tariff measures. However, the refund process remains uncertain as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has indicated that operational and legal mechanisms for issuing large-scale repayments are still being evaluated.

The potential refund exposure is estimated to run into tens of billions of dollars, making it one of the largest tariff disputes in recent trade history. Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of International Trade has been hearing multiple cases from companies contesting the legality of these tariffs.

Despite the legal challenges, the United States administration is exploring alternative legal authorities to maintain certain trade restrictions, meaning continued uncertainty for global supply chains and import costs in the near term.

This means the following for our customers:

The recent ruling is currently under review, and we are closely monitoring further guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the courts, and other relevant federal agencies.

At this stage, no tariff refunds or credits have been issued, and refunds cannot be processed solely on the basis of this ruling. Should the U.S. government establish an official refund mechanism, we will evaluate its implications and inform customers accordingly.

In the meantime, we will continue to track developments and promptly communicate any significant updates that may impact your business operations.

Stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days as we get more information on this subject…….

IEEPA HEADLINES was originally published in ITL USA INC on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.