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US Coast Guard to assess port infrastructure risks

  • Market: Freight
  • 20/05/24

Federal officials will conduct a study of US port infrastructure safety nearly two months after a massive containership brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the Port of Baltimore.

The US Coast Guard (USGC), along with the Ports and Waterways Safety Board of Inquiry, will study 10 US ports to evaluate the risks of increased traffic and large commercial vessels on infrastructure like bridges, railways, pipelines, cargo terminals and power plants. A report on risk mitigation strategies and practices will be issued by the board and finalized by 31 May 2025.

The study could help avoid accidents like the one in Baltimore that killed six and curtailed traffic in and out of the harbor since 26 March, effecting markets for metals, biofuels, coal, organic agriculture, petcoke and other products.

The containership that struck the bridge was removed from the accident site on Monday, allowing commercial vessel traffic to resume. The port is expected to fully reopen by the end of May.


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Japan’s Honda to produce more cars in US, less locally


16/04/25
News
16/04/25

Japan’s Honda to produce more cars in US, less locally

Tokyo, 16 April (Argus) — Japanese car producer Honda will produce a car model at its US facility instead of its domestic facility from as early as June, the company told Argus today, possibly to avoid the US' tariffs on foreign car deliveries. Honda will stop manufacturing the Civic Hybrid 5-door model at the country's eastern Yorii plant during June-July and switch the production to its US plant in the state of Indianna, the representative of the firm told Argus . Honda produced 3,000 units of the model during February and March, he added. This comes as part of the company's mid-to long term "optimisation strategy", according to the firm, reiterating that theproduction switch is not a countermeasure against the US' across-the-board 25pc tariff on automobile imports that took effect on 3 April. But this may not be entirely convincing since Honda just started producing the model in February, leaving room for speculation that the transfer is part of a wider strategy to reduce delivery costs to the US market. Honda did not disclose whether the Indiana plant will procure auto parts from its suppliers in Canada or Mexico . Japanese auto industry is still bracing for further developments in the US tariff policy on automobile and auto parts, although US president Donald Trump on 14 April suggested possibly pausing the tariff. Tokyo and Washington will hold a ministerial talk this week to negotiate trade issues, including the levy on auto delivery, along with the 24pc "reciprocal" tariffs the Trump administration separately imposed on Japanese imports. Japanese government is hoping to negotiate for a better tariff deal during the 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariff imposition by the US government, and the automobile industry is seen as a key sector to settle the deal. The US president has long expressed his dissatisfaction against the auto trade imbalance between two countries. Japan exported around 1.3mn units of passenger vehicles to the US in 2024, while Japan purchased around 23,000 units of US passenger vehicles in 2023. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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US Senate seeks coordinated cargo theft probes


14/04/25
News
14/04/25

US Senate seeks coordinated cargo theft probes

Washington, 14 April (Argus) — US rail and other transportation industries are urging Congress to move forward on a bill that would create a division within the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate investigations of organized cargo theft. The bipartisan Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 was introduced on 10 April by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada). The bill, similar to a 2023 effort, calls for creation of an organized retail and supply chain crime coordination center to unite experts from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as retail industry representatives. The Class I railroads also operate their own police forces with powers equivalent to public law enforcement. Coordinating investigations in a timely manner is difficult because of the proliferation of different agencies. Railroad police officials are limited to carriers' facilities, while local police forces are unable to quickly investigate railroad thefts because they need specific permission to enter railroad property. "Organized criminal operations continue to evolve and escalate their targeted attacks against our nation's supply chain and retailers," Association of American Railroads chief executive Ian Jefferies said. The nation's largest railroads experienced a 40pc spike in cargo theft last year, costing carriers more than $100mn, AAR said. Rail thefts tend to be split between flash mob robberies and organized efforts by criminal networks, according to Danny Ramon, director of intelligence and response at logistics platform Overhaul. Flash mobs often target containers in urban areas, seeking valuable products such as apparel and footwear that they can quickly sell. These thefts often occur in regions near ports where containers are loaded onto trains, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta. But thefts in rural areas are becoming more prolific, Ramon said. They have become popular locations because it can take law enforcement an hour or longer to reach trains as opposed to minutes for urban rail cargo thefts. Rural areas also make it easier for groups to stage larger thefts. The organized groups tend to track trains from origin and monitor them along the way, breaking in during breaks in rural areas. They come prepared with equipment and cargo vans to enable them to quickly empty products from trains. Arizona has become a popular location for thefts because of its vast portions of rural area. In addition, many trains are heading east with containers of goods recently loaded from west coast ports. Thefts by criminal organizations have increased in part because of the ease in selling to individuals. The proliferation of on line websites have allowed these organizations to bypass traditional third-party middlemen and sell directly to consumers, Ramon said. By Abby Caplan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Low Rhine water levels drive barge rates higher


11/04/25
News
11/04/25

Low Rhine water levels drive barge rates higher

Barge loading restrictions have pushed prices for some products in southwest Germany four times higher than the national average, writes Amaar Khan London, 11 April (Argus) — Product prices in southwest Germany have been pushed higher by a surge in barge prices because of lower water levels along the Rhine. Freight costs from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) storage hub to Basel have risen fourfold to over €80/t ($89.50/t) since early March, according to barge broker Riverlake, while rates to Karlsruhe have more than tripled to about €55/t. Barges are generally used to transport products to inland Europe, or to import from ARA, and export to Switzerland. But low rainfall and higher temperatures have led to lower Rhine water levels, meaning that barges are not able to load at capacity and suppliers have to book more vessels to carry products. The main point of congestion along the Rhine is at Kaub, close to where vessels discharge for Frankfurt, Riverlake data show. Water levels there are less than 1m high, meaning barges can only carry around 1,000t of product. The higher barge freight rates are leading to a rise in prices for products in southwest Germany, which is typically supplied by barges along the Rhine. Prices in this region for heating oil, diesel and E5 gasoline have risen by €2.20-3.00/100 litres, compared with the national average. Lower Rhine water levels are also limiting exports from Miro's 310,000 b/d Karlsruhe refinery in southwest Germany, leading to fears of production cuts. Lower refinery production in the region has added to barge demand. Shell ended crude refining at its 147,000 b/d Wesseling plant in Germany last month , although storage tanks will still be used after the closure. The tanks are now only serviceable by pipelines and barges, leading to higher barge demand. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Brazil's soybean outflow causes truck queue in Rondonia


20/03/25
News
20/03/25

Brazil's soybean outflow causes truck queue in Rondonia

Sao Paulo, 20 March (Argus) — The waiting time for shipping the 2024-25 soybean crop at Brazil's port of Porto Velho reached six days this week, according to the local soybean producers association Aprosoja-RO. Lack of port infrastructure and farm storage, combined with the 2024-25 oilseed harvest peak in recent weeks, increased the truck queue for the flow of cargo at the port, in Brazil's northern state of Rondonia. "We have a queue of up to 1,200 trucks at the Porto Velho sorting yard, where all the production from the state and from Mato Grosso's northwest region are transported," said the administrative director of Aprosoja-RO, Marcelo Lucas. The cargo is shipped and continues along the Madeira River to the port of Santarem, in northern Para state, where it is exported. The 2024-25 soybean harvest in Rondonia is expected to reach 2.4mn metric tonnes (t), up by 7pc from the previous cycle, according to the national supply company Conab. Rondonia state did not have difficulties of this magnitude in previous years, but because of the peak in this cycle's harvest, there is a higher volume to be transported in a shorter period of time, according to Aprosoja-RO. Aprosoja-RO also said the logistical bottlenecks have caused losses to producers, who are unable to transport the harvest from their properties. The cargoes that are able to be loaded end up degraded because of the long waits in lines. Farmers are also absorbing the costs of keeping trucks parked in warehouses and ports, raising road freight prices to levels above what is traditionally practiced in the region, said Aprosoja-RO. In the week ending 13 March road grain freight on the Sapezal-Porto Velho corridor reached R235/t ($42/t), compared to R185/t in the same period in 2024. The entity said they are working with the state government to review the concession of the Porto Velho port, allowing other companies to operate it. Aprosoja-RO received reports that there are idle spaces that could be serving the producers. The port of Porto Velho is managed by the state ports and waterways society Soph, which said it does not manage the external truck queues, and does not have authority in the retroport area of trucks awaiting clearance for sorting to the terminals. By Bruno Castro Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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