Client focus underlined by key appointment
Cathy Fong, a senior Manager at Universal, has been promoted to the position of Director – Freight Pricing as part of a corporate wide effort to augment an already strong commitment to client service.
“Cathy brings a wealth of industry knowledge, as well as strong carrier and agent relationships to our Director team,” said Michael Glionna, President. “She is on the cutting edge of her field, but never forgets the importance of client service or any of the other small business values that will always be an important element of our formula for success.”
As Director, Cathy will manage our Freight Pricing team and will take an active role in sourcing the most competitive ocean and airfreight pricing to meet the needs of our clients and international agent partners.
Cathy joins our existing Director team:
- Brian Rowe, Director – Customs Compliance & Regulatory Affairs
- Chris Cartan, Director – Operations
- John Leis, Director – Client Relations
- Debbie McGuire, Director – Freight Solutions
- David Lychek, Director – Ocean & Air Services
- Janice Ilkay, Director – IT Solutions
Cathy Fong
Director – Freight Pricing
Improved containership schedule reliability
Coming back from the depths of the shipping surge experienced in 2021 and early 2022, the container shipping industry is recovering its schedule reliability to levels last seen at the onset of the COVID pandemic. New data shows the highest level of schedule reliability in 30 months, reaching levels not seen since August 2020 and approaching pre-pandemic norms.
Analysis shows that the industry bottomed out a year ago, falling to a level where only one-in-three ships were on schedule. February 2022 showed just 34.2 percent global schedule reliability, continuing a two-year trend that began in January 2021, when reliability fell for the first time into the 30 to 40 percent range.
Global schedule reliability increased sharply by 7.7 percentage points month over month in February 2023, reaching 60.2 percent. Levels had begun nearly consistent monthly increases in May 2022, but February was the first time the 60 percent level was reached.
The year-over-year improvements came in across the board among the major carriers. Data shows that the 14 major carriers average 57 percent schedule reliability, up from just 29 percent in February 2022. The strongest gains came from the Asian-based carriers, with companies including Wan Hai, Evergreen, Yang Ming, PIL, OOCL and COSCO all at least doubling their reliability, and each with better than half their vessels now on schedule.
The world’s largest container carrier, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), also doubled its performance year-over-year. They rose from schedule reliability of just a third of the fleet to nearly two-thirds in 2023. MSC rose from an average performance last year to be tied with Maersk at the top of the 14 carriers. Maersk has consistently maintained among the best schedule reliability, even during the worst periods of delays for all carriers.
The average delay for late vessel arrivals also decreased, although it has not improved at the same pace as schedule reliability for the industry. In relative terms, the average delay for late vessel arrivals is now closer to the 2019 level than to the highs of 2021-2022.
The average 5.29 days for late arriving vessels is similar to early 2020, but even during the first months of the COVID pandemic, the industry was averaging under five days. In 2018 and 2019, the average delay for containerships was around four days.
The declines in volumes and the growing number of blanked sailings in 2023 have reduced the pressure on both container lines and ports. Many of the world’s ports report they have largely eliminated their backlogs and cleared the surge of containers clogging the ports. The one area of concern at the moment relates to key Chinese ports that are becoming congested with empty containers, leading to operational inefficiencies. This is due to a downturn in demand following a slowdown in exports, and with this region being one of the largest export markets in the world, the effect has been quite pronounced.
For more information, contact David Lychek, Director – Ocean & Air Services.
USA imposes 200% duty on Russian aluminum
As per US Proclamation 10522, any imports of aluminum articles or aluminum derivative articles that are the product of Russia (effective March 10, 2023) or where any amount of primary aluminum used in the manufacture of the aluminum articles is smelted in Russia, or the aluminum articles are cast in Russia (effective April 10, 2023), are subject to a 200 percent ad valorem rate of duty.
For more information, contact Brian Rowe, Director – Customs Compliance & Regulatory Affairs.
Reporting of Smelt and Cast Country of Origin for aluminum and derivative articles entering the USA
Effective April 10, 2023, importers of all aluminum articles and aluminum derivative articles from all countries of origin, regardless of whether Section 232 duties, quotas, exclusions, or general approved exclusion apply, shall report the following information for aluminum articles and aluminum derivative articles upon import to the USA, regardless of country of origin (excluding goods of USA origin):
Primary Country of Smelt
Report the country where the largest volume of new aluminum metal is produced from alumina (or aluminum oxide) by the electrolytic Hall-Héroult process.
Secondary Country of Smelt
Report the country where the second largest volume of new aluminum metal is produced from alumina (or aluminum oxide) by the electrolytic Hall-Héroult process.
Country of Cast
Report the country where the aluminum (with or without alloying elements) was last liquified by heat and cast into a solid state. The final solid state can take the form of either a semi-finished product (slab, billets or ingots) or a finished aluminum product.
Products of the U.S. are not covered by the countries of smelt and cast reporting requirements. Until further notice, for products of the U.S., filers may report “N/A” for the countries of smelt, and U.S. for country of cast.
Products Covered
Per U.S. Proclamations 9704 and 9980, and Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, the following aluminum articles and derivative aluminum articles are subject to Section 232 measures, and are covered by the smelt and cast reporting requirements:
Aluminum articles:
(i) unwrought aluminum provided for in heading 7601:
(ii) bars, rods and profiles provided for in heading 7604; wire provided for in heading 7605;
(iii) plates, sheets and strip provided for in heading 7606; foil provided for in heading 7607;
(iv) tubes, pipes and tube or pipe fittings provided for in heading 7608 and 7609;
(v) castings and forgings of aluminum provided for in subheading 7616.99.51.
Aluminum derivatives articles:
(A) stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing fitted with fittings or made up into articles (described in subheading 7614.10.50);
(B) stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and not with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing comprising electrical conductors, not fitted with fittings or made up into articles (described in subheading 7614.90.20);
(C) stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and not with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing not comprising electrical conductors, not fitted with fittings or made up into articles (described in subheading 7614.90.40);
(D) stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, including slings and similar articles, of aluminum and not with steel core, not electrically insulated; the foregoing fitted with fittings or made up into articles (described in subheading 7614.90.50);
(E) bumper stampings of aluminum, the foregoing comprising parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of heading 8701 to 8705 (described in subheading 8708.10.30); and
(F) body stampings of aluminum, for tractors suitable for agricultural use (described in subheading 8708.29.21).
For more information, contact Brian Rowe, Director – Customs Compliance & Regulatory Affairs.
Global Spotlight Quiz
Name the city that is home to Torre dos Clérigos
- The city is nicknamed ‘Invicta’ and the locals are called ‘Tripeiros’.
- Known as the city of bridges – all six bridges run over the Douro river.
- Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower, also designed one of the bridges in this city, the Maria Pia Bridge.
- The historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Has its own version of the Croque Monsieur – the ‘Francesinha’, a five layer sandwich.
- Harry Potter author J.K Rowling lived in this city from 1991 to 1993.
Answer: Porto, Portugal
For more information about shipping freight to or from this city, contact Debbie McGuire, Director – Freight Solutions.
Quick Tip
Three ways to prevent cargo loss
- employ safe stowage methods
- never exceed maximum load capacity
- purchase adequate insurance
At Your Service:
Mattia Saieva
Canadian Customs Operations (Niagara Falls)
Mattia Saieva joined Universal Logistics in November 2021, as a member of our Customs Operations team in Niagara Falls. Mattia currently works with our Border Clearances team, where she processes the customs release of truck and courier shipments. Mattia’s organizational skills and attention to detail have proven to be a valuable resource for our clients.
Mattia can be reached by phone (905) 262-5381, ext. 2302 or by email.
Mattia Saieva
Canadian Customs Operations
(Niagara Falls)
SMART Logistics
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