M. Diane McCormick explains in her article in the recent June edition of ERC’s Mobility Magazine that “U.S. military and government families represent a major market segment, affecting everything from technology and service at the curb to making good when things go wrong.” (“The Ripple Effect of Government Relocations”) The Defense Personal Property Program (DP3) manages over 300,000 HHG shipments annually at a cost over $2 billion, along with 70,000 moved/stored vehicles and 60,000 lots of long-term storage for an additional $300,000 million. (See link for full Mobility article, June 2021 edition, p. 39)

The reactions to Covid-19 have caused absolute chaos in global shipping.   The word “chaos” is not said lightly, in fact, it is actually part of the title of a New York Times article, “‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This’: Chaos Strikes Global Shipping.” (By Peter S. Goodman, Alexandra Stevenson, Niraj Chokshiand, Michael Corkery,March 6, 2021, Updated March 7, 2021.)

The disruptions to global trade are driving up the cost of shipping dramatically.  The cost to ship a container from Asia to the US has skyrocketed since June of last year.

The Ocean Cleanup will be catching plastic flowing from 15 rivers by end of 2021. The organization estimated through its research that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) has 80,000 tons of plastic floating in it, while about 1000 rivers around the world feed 80% of the plastic flowing into the oceans. The Ocean Cleanup now claims that it has collected 1 million pounds of plastic through the end of Q1 2021. (See link for: FreightWaves, "World Oceans Day ..." June 8, 2021, Alyssa Sporrer)

The major port of Yantian in Shenzhen, China has been partially shut due to a recent outbreak of COVID-19.  American Shipper reports that the event is expected to reverberate globally causing delays for trans-Pacific, as well as Far East-North Europe, and Euro-N. America shipping trade routes. Shipping delays with terminal congestion is predicted for the coming week along with impact on prices. (See link for American Shipper: "Viewpoint: Is Yantian Next ...", June 1, 2021, Lori Ann LaRocco)

Data from U.K. Drewry Maritime Research indicates that over 96% of the world’s cargo containers are currently being produced by three Chinese companies, reported American Shipper this week. As production shifted to China from S. Korea in the1990’s, large Chinese market share has since grown particularly in the past two decades leading to the present day dominance. Data shows that China’s quarterly production has more than tripled from 1Q2020 to 1Q2021. (See link for American Shipper: 'How three Chinese Companies ...", May 24, 2021, Greg Miller)

‍

In the midst of stiff Republican opposition responding with their much lower offer of $568 billion for the infrastructure package, the White House came back with a counter-proposal reduced by 25% at $1.7 trillion. FreightWaves reported Friday that while this counter reduced commitment in traditional infrastructure investments such as roads and bridges, other “nontraditional” (Psaki) infrastructure investments involving clean energy, clean drinking water and climate change projects remained in the plan. (See link for FreightWays: 'White House Cuts Size ...', May 21, 2021, John Gallagher)