Freight market is wobbling
A new ITS Logistics report warns rising costs, diesel prices and tightening capacity are making freight markets more volatile—matching fresh coverage of shipping-rate jumps and longer lead times as fuel stays high. Expect declining import volumes and stretched carrier capacity to push up inter-island and inbound costs for Caribbean operators. (globenewswire.com) (wgal.com)
Drewry’s World Container Index climbed to $2,279 per 40ft container in the week of March 26, marking a fourth consecutive weekly increase and a ~5% gain that concentrated on Asia–Europe and transpacific lanes. (drewry.co.uk) U.S. retail diesel averaged about $5.38 per gallon for the week ending March 23, up sharply from early March levels and raising over‑the‑road and last‑mile fuel cost baselines for carriers serving the Caribbean via Florida gateways. (eia.gov) Seaboard Marine filed a General Rate Increase for intra‑Caribbean service effective March 22 covering Antigua, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Saint‑Lucia and other ports, and previously issued a U.S.–Caribbean GRI effective March 8 — concrete, carrier‑level rate hikes that directly raise inter‑island invoice lines. (seaboardmarine.com) U.S. LTL/inland carriers updated Caribbean tariffs in early March (Old Dominion’s Caribbean tariff effective March 2 lists new charges), showing inland and drayage price pressure feeding higher landed costs at resort distribution centers. (olddominion.com) Carriers applied emergency bunker surcharges mid‑March after Middle East tensions triggered route risk and fuel‑cost volatility, while analytics firms logged vessel diversions and blanked sailings that extended ocean lead times in March. (maritimenews.com) (everstream.ai) Port‑level trackers and transshipment data flagged elevated congestion and wait times at key regional hubs (PortCast realtime snapshots) and underscored Kingston’s role as a transshipment node that amplifies delays for redistributed cargo into the eastern and southern Caribbean. (portcast.io) (ballastmarkets.com)
