525 S. Douglas St. , #100• El Segundo, CA 90245 • (310) 607-8000
NEWS FROM COPPERSMITH
COPPERSMITH MONETARY POLICY UPDATE
Due to the increasing strain on the international shipping industry, pushing costs up more than fivefold in the past year, Coppersmith has had to revisit our monetary policy with customers. Coppersmith Inc. is a Customs Broker, yet we have become the banking middleman asked to advance charges for services which are not our responsibility and can easily be paid by customers directly to the vendors whom they have chosen.  

In the past, we have outlaid duty, freight, storage, and demurrage charges to expedite the clearance and release process. However today, these advanced payments are no longer industry standard, since payment of these services is available to the importer via online portals and ACH duty payments. 

Therefore, we are asking that each customer pay their service fees directly to the vendor who provides the service. If Coppersmith provides the freight routing, insurance, clearance, and delivery, then we will certainly advance those fees and charge you accordingly. But, shipping costs, terminal fees, chassis rentals, and demurrage/detention costs are all the responsibility of the cargo owner and should be paid directly to the vendor or they will be assessed an advance fee for this special service.

Customs duties should always be paid directly to CBP on your own ACH account—ask us for an application.

As we advised in our August Newsletter, we too have moved to electronic payments of our invoices. Please ask your Coppersmith representative for our bank information to pay us via ACH.
 
Having our customers take care of their own monetary responsibilities, enables us to concentrate on providing the best customer service in the industry.
On top of massive container congestion on the US west coast, recently announced shutdowns and outbreaks in China are further stressing the ocean cargo supply chain. News of both the Meidong ocean closure and airline shutdowns in China where flights are being held due to the outbreak has many shippers and forwarders concerned about when and if cargo will be received. While many may think this is the perfect time to divert and make new arrangements, we’re not sure that’s the best decision at the last minute. 
After seven decades in the logistics industry, there isn’t much we haven’t seen or lived through here at Coppersmith. We’ve weathered container congestion, ups, and downs, crisis, and catastrophe, and still, this situation is unpredictable on a level we haven’t seen. Click below to learn how Coppersmith is navigating these troubled waters.
Container prices soar under COVID resurgence
As both the US and China try to manage the resurgence of the Delta Variant of COVID-19, ports, and transportation are choked by fewer workers on lines as staff reductions create delays. Because of the shutdowns in Ningbo and Meidong, delays are building for cargo leaving China, cargo that is desperately needed on store shelves this peak season. This has driven container prices even higher than most ever expected them to go and there's no reduction in the forecast anytime soon.
Record imports and empty export boxes at Port of LA
The most popular joke about ocean freight right now is how the whole system is broken and we're all suffering, but right behind that we keep hearing how the most popular ocean export in Los Angeles is "air" as more containers are leaving empty from the port than are leaving loaded with cargo. Empty containers are far more valuable than loaded as they take less time to fill and return to the US in the midst of record imports, a situation we've been facing for over a year.

Delays in China and Vietnam have caused more disruption in the ocean freight market as ports reduce workers to meet social distancing guidelines. In Vietnam especially, the stay-at-home order requires residents to not leave under any circumstances, not even to buy groceries and most workers are living on-site where they work. The companies are trying to keep their factories moving but in the face of these mounting issues right in the thick of peak season, we're looking at these delays taking weeks to iron out once they are back at full capacity.

Contract negotiations for long-term rates are being called a "beauty contest" as shippers look for ways to mitigate astronomical rate increases that bloomed this year. With spot rates sending the container freight market off-kilter, many carriers are looking for bigger and more established forwarders to give the best rates, leaving smaller houses in deep trouble when a single container can cost up to $20,000 not including fees and with no timeline guarantees that the container will move on schedule even after paying the money.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana as a Cat 4 on Sunday afternoon bringing torrential rain and flooding to New Orleans where 700,000 people are without power. The city's transmission tower was destroyed as it crumbled into the waters of the Mississippi River under the burden of Ida's winds. While the city was much better prepared this time, unlike the calamity of Katrina in 2005, we're still waiting for news on how this impacts transportation in the Crescent City.
More bad news where rates are concerned is on the horizon for ocean carriers. There's no lack for cheeky headlines coming out of the logistics journalists who are unlucky enough to have to detail the rises in prices hitting shippers as container prices from China to LA hit $32,000 a rate that tells shippers the carrier doesn't really want the business, and likely couldn't commit to service even if the price weren't prohibitive. While that particular price is still an outlier, many smaller shippers are facing the same.

Labor Day is September 6th, as observed in the United States to commemorate the struggles of the workers who fought for protections and better conditions. This struggle culminated with the Haymarket Riot in Chicago on May 4, 1886 where eight people lost their lives after an instigator threw a bomb into a protest group of workers trying to fight for collective bargaining rights. Coppersmith wishes each and every reader a Happy and relaxing Labor Day!