Transportation Roundup: Shipper revenues drop, imports return to West Coast

CMA CGM is the latest shipper to report a significant drop in net earnings in the third quarter, down 51.8% year-over-year in its container shipping segment. However, the number of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) carried in the third quarter rose nearly 1% since last year. Other shippers reporting significant profit declines from the last year include Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express and HMM. Read more from the Journal of Commerce.

Despite the revenue drop, CMA CGM still sees demand in North America and is investing in physical infrastructure, replicating the development of warehouse distribution fulfillment centers in Savannah to the Ports of New York and New Jersey.

With the labor issue on the West Coast resolved and low water levels in the Panama Canal restricting container ships bound for the East and Gulf Coast, imports are returning to the West Coast ports. After 26 months of East and Gulf Coast ports outperforming West Coast ports, the import volume streak started its shift back to the West Coast in August. Import numbers for East and Gulf Coast ports dropped 13.4% year-over-year and West Coast volumes rose 16.7% in September. Read more from Freightwaves here.

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