Port of Los Angeles: “Houston, We Have a Problem” You’ve heard these words before.
Right now the Port of Houston in Texas is becoming a serious consideration as an alternative to the Ports at Los Angeles, Long Beach and even New York/New Jersey when it comes to importing containers from Asia.
Companies that have distribution centers in the Dallas, Fort Worth Texas area are considering Port Houston because it’s so close to their distribution centers. It makes sense and it’s practical.
We all know that time is money. Retailers cannot wait 2 months for their goods to clear West Coast Ports. The whole key here is to the cut down the shipping or transport time out of Southeast Asia to the West Coast. Presently the shipping times to the West Coast to the Port of Los Angeles is experiencing huge congestion.
One might ask – so what do you do if you want to bring imports into the West Coast or to the East Coast, but don’t want to deal with the COVID delays and congestion? Get ready for some real medicine on reality.
One answer is: Fly it in.
However, keep in mind that finding aircraft with cargo slots is a big challenge not only on the major trade lanes connecting China, North America and Europe, but also all over the world.
Booking cargo slots with an airline resembles trying to buy a home in a hot seller’s market. You have to move fast and pay top dollar to beat the competition. Contact us we can help, as we have reserved AIR Cargo Space and can offer discount$. To get a better perspective on the situation look at this recent data.
In the past two weeks, Global Airfreight Volume Increased 14% and capacity declined about 3.5%, according to World ACD, which compiles market data from airlines. On a worldwide basis, year-over-year, rates are 84% higher than a year ago. How would you like an 84% pay raise ? I would – where do I sign?
The other answer is: You need to find a different shipping port somewhere in the middle – Let’s Talk Texas !
The big retail stores like Walmart, IKEA, Lowe’s and others are already utilizing the port of Houston as an import gateway. A lot of retailers are planning to use the Houston port from Asia because as volume continues to grow, especially through the Panama Canal, Houston is their best alternative.
Did you know during the pandemic the Houston ship channel was ranked the busiest waterway in terms of tonnage by the US Army Corps of Engineers. So you can imagine – more vessels came through the port of Houston than the ones in LA/California, New Jersey and New York combined. That’s a lot of containers !
According to the US Census Bureau, China was the top trading partner in January accounting for $1.3 billion in trade. That is approximately half of all the import business from Asia to Houston. In fact, Port Houston will begin to be the first US Port of call through the Panama Canal when ships leave Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan.
During my last trip to Asia, I spent some time in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and I can tell you personally it’s a fabulous port. The airport is amazing too. It’s only an hour and a half flight from Hong Kong to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The same for container ships as it’s an Industrial Area and it has quick access to the shipping lanes.
The Kaohsiung to Port Houston route will become more and more important as the demand for maritime cargo increases. One reason for the demand is the “empty metal boxes” that need to get back to Asia. Right now with the shortage of empty containers, demand and price will only be increasing until the the empty containers are able to find their way back to Asia.
In the meantime if you need product shipped quickly contact us and we will fly it in for you. So, unless you have a couple of months to wait by ocean, you’ll need to plan way ahead or talk Texas. Remember these words over the radio “Houston, we have a Problem” was the call for help and Houston came to the rescue.
Stay well and don’t wait too long or we’ll have to rescue your cargo. Contact us, we’ll handle it so you can spend more time with your family. Remember, there are better alternatives than just Sittin’ by the Dock of the Bay watching the Tide Roll Away…