ATLANTA, Georgia, April 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq: DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, released its April report on the ongoing global shipping crisis and analysis for logistics and supply chain professionals. The report shows stronger U.S. ocean container import volumes in March, but reduced wait times at top U.S. ports. However, China’s COVID lockdowns combined with recent geopolitical conflict suggest there may be continuing levels of disruption for global supply chains in 2022.
March continued the very strong start to 2022 with another monthly record for U.S. container import volume (see Figure 1). Container import volumes were up 11% from February 2022 to almost 2.6 million TEUs and up 1% from March 2021 and 44% from pre-pandemic March 2019. March was also the second highest import volume in history, only eclipsed by August 2021 which falls in peak season for ocean imports. Another month effectively exceeding the 2.4 million TEU mark indicates that the chronic supply chain disruptions (e.g., delays, variability, etc.) importers and the logistics community have been experiencing are not abating in the short-term.
Figure 1. U.S. Container Import Volume Year-over-Year Comparison
Source: Descartes Datamyne™
“Given the high TEU import volume in March, the overall decrease in port delays was positive news (see Figure 2),” said Chris Jones, EVP Industry & Services at Descartes. “The COVID-related lockdowns in China will have importers and logistics services providers managing their way around congested, disrupted and expensive global operations throughout 2022.”
Figure 2: Top 10 U.S. Port Average Wait Times (in days)
| Port | February | March |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 15.1 | 11.6 |
| Long Beach | 12.9 | 10.0 |
| New York/New Jersey | 15.5 | 14.5 |
| Savannah | 10.6 | 9.7 |
| Norfolk | 15.1 | 13.5 |
| Houston | 13.0 | 12.1 |
| Charleston | 16.0 | 15.9 |
| Oakland | 15.6 | 23.3 |
| Seattle | 17.7 | 8.3 |
| Tacoma | 12.9 | 7.7 |
Source: Descartes Datamyne
The April report is Descartes’ ninth installment since beginning its analysis in August 2021. To read past reports, learn more about the key economic and logistics factors driving the global shipping crisis, and review strategies to help address it in the near-, short- and long-term, visit Descartes’ Global Shipping Crisis Resource Center.
About Descartes
Descartes (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG) is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, performance and security of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, schedule, track and measure delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world's largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Our headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and we have offices and partners around the world. Learn more at www.descartes.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Global Media Contact
Cara Strohack
Tel: +1(800) 419-8495 ext. 202025
cstrohack@descartes.com
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