Dear IFCBAA Member,

Further to previous IFCBAA bulletins on the issues at Port Botany, Sydney stevedore terminals.

IFCBAA would like to update members on actions concerning the Sydney Port Congestion – Stevedores, Shipping Lines & Port Congestion Surcharges (PCS) being imposed by a number of shipping lines in Sydney.

IFCBAA has updated a schedule of Port Congestion Surcharges and related information announced by the shipping lines, as attached.
     • No further PCS updates this week
     • Shipping Lines PCS remain in place for now – port congestion continues and the outlook remains fluid with Patrick, DP World and MUA still operating under FWC protected orders to continue EBA negotiations. Hutchison and MUA are continuing negotiations, however there will be a 24 hours stoppage today. (Notice below)

       We will update the schedule as further announcements are received. 

Sydney Port Update  

As reported previous updates, following intervention by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in the Protected Industrial Action at Patrick and DP World.
      • FWC ordered a lifting of PIA and DP World and Patrick to continue negotiations with the MUA.
      • All industrial action is ceased during this time and work is at pre-PIA operations
      • Patrick & MUA – FWC orders in place until 26 October
      • DP World & MUA – FWC orders in place until 1 November

Work continues at (pre-PIA) normal, however it is going to take some time to catch up and clear the backlog of ships and containers.

Shipping Australia confirms that there is currently a 21-day delay for some vessels calling at Patrick Terminals in Sydney and all vessel schedules are disrupted to some extent.

For vessels calling at DP World Australia, the situation is improving but the average delay in Sydney is still three or four days.

This is the fundamental crux of the matter: when a ship which is due to arrive today is subject to a 21-day delay then it is a disaster for all parties in the supply chain. At best, it will be eight to ten weeks to clear the congestion.

The stevedores continue to work through the backlog of ships and containers at Port Botany.

Patrick

Patrick issued the following update on the status of negotiations with the MUA.

On 2 October 2020, the Fair Work Commission made interim orders temporarily suspending the campaign of Protected Industrial Action by Patrick employees. These orders remain in place until the hearing of Patrick Terminals’ application to terminate or suspend industrial action on 26 and 27 October 2020.

From 1 October 2020, operations resumed and Patrick Terminals began clearing the backlog of vessels around the Australian Coast. Patrick’s Client Service Managers have been working closely with shipping line customers to implement contingency plans such as port omissions and change of rotations to reduce the delays at all of our terminals.

Our Brisbane and Fremantle Terminals are proceeding well with the recovery plans however, there are still significant delays in Sydney and Melbourne.

The National Operations Centre will of course continue to work with all of our customers to mitigate the impacts of the industrial action.

Despite Patrick Terminals' best endeavours to reach an agreement with its employees and resolve the dispute, the MUA again rejected offers from Patrick Terminals last week which included reasonable pay increases.

Patrick takes this opportunity to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the campaign of Protected Industrial Action and wants to assure you that it is actively working towards an outcome that will ultimately enable it to continue to deliver the best results for its customers.

If you have any other questions, please contact your Client Services Manager

Regards,
Patrick Terminals

Hutchison Ports

The MUA has informed Hutchison Ports of a 24 hours stoppage today, Friday 23.10

MUA - INDUSTRIAL ACTION HUTCHISON PORTS SYDNEY

Attention Carriers:

All employees of Sydney International Container Terminals Pty Ltd t/a Hutchison Ports Australia Pty Ltd who will be covered by the proposed enterprise agreement, who are employed at its operations at Port Botany,

and who are members of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union - The Maritime Union of Australia Division, will engage in the following actions:

A stoppage of work of 24 hours duration, commencing 06:00hrs Friday 23 October 2020

We thank you for your understanding.

HUTCHISON PORTS SYDNEY

DP World

As publicly stated ‘DPW have in Principal Agreement’ with Employees and the MUA. A few small drafting matters to go, however expected to go to a vote in early November.

There are no bans or limitations on DP World at all.

Operating 24 x 7 on the waterside and rail and the normal 20 of 21 shifts a week on the landside. Road doesn’t normally operate from 2200 Sat to 0600 Sun, however where there is demand from industry DP World will work this shift.

DP World and Hutchison are permitting shipping lines to exceed proforma window exchanges, by agreement, to assist with the evacuation of empty containers. The trade-off being a 1-2 days delay to berth at the terminal at the present time. Typically exchanges and evacuation of empty containers has increased from 1500 to 2000 per vessel.

Empty Container Parks

Despite increased exchanges of empty containers evacuated onto vessels, the volumes are not keeping pace with the arrival of more containers. As a consequence, ECPs are full to overflowing. Transport companies and importers are holding containers longer. 

The upcoming closure of Sydney’s largest empty container park (24% of Sydney’s empty container capacity) to make way for construction of the Sydney Gateway road will put further strain on the situation.

Shipping lines and the inability to access Port Botany, the skyrocketing costs of freight and port congestion surcharges which has been imposed on our member's clients, the importer, and how this will end up being passed on to the consumer.

The situation is being exacerbated by some shipping lines intransigence in providing container detention extension or relief.

IFCBAA has raised with NSW Attorney General, Mark Speakman to intervene in the crisis and direct the stevedores and shipping lines to undertake a sweeper vessel operation to remove thousands of containers currently stockpiled.

We will keep members informed of progress.

Outlook for the Christmas Season - Commentary

The next month is critical for goods arriving into domestic supply chains.

Retailers are now dealing with pre-Christmas sales much earlier due to the very popular one-off sales events – both on-line and in-store. 
     • Click Frenzy 10 Nov
     • Black Friday 27 Nov
     • Cyber Monday 30 Nov

The demand on retailers will be exacerbated by the MEL lockdown, as more purchases are made on-line and home delivery pressures mount.  “If it’s not here by late November, they will have missed Christmas sales and could spell disaster for many….”

More Pressures on the Supply Side ex China and Asia.

There is an estimated 30% excess of cargo unable to be booked on vessels ex China and Asia.

Bookings are now backlogged into the 3rd week of November.

Rates are climbing and shipping lines have commenced rate restoration increases from 1 November.

MSC have announced a rate restoration programme of USD300 per TEU will be implemented for all sailings from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to Australia and New
Zealand, effective 1 November 2020.

Ex China, Premium Plus bookings where there is an additional USD500 per TEU (approx.) to ensure priority loading are oversubscribed. IFCBAA understands there are up to 20% of bookings being allocated to Premium Plus.

Then there is the PCS of up to USD 350 per TEU when the container gets to Sydney. More costs to importers doing business…….

Our members will be encountering increasing pressure from customers to meet tighter delivery deadlines in the weeks ahead.

We can only hope that the stevedores and MUA finalise an Agreement by the FWC deadlines and there are no further interruptions during the critical period ahead.

IFCBAA urges all parties involved in the industrial action at Port Botany to resolve their differences and return the port to full operating capacity.

Under the current circumstances at Port Botany, which still appear to be a few weeks away from returning to normal, we will continue to keep members informed of updates from the shipping lines on their revised schedules, bookings and PCS duration.

 To read the Port Congestion Surcharges and Shipping Line Updates, click HERE