Shipping Bottlenecks in Europe Send a Warning to US, Asia
Source: Bloomberg
May 25, 2025 at 9:08 AM EDT
Updated on May 26, 2025 at 7:52 AM EDT
Port congestion is worsening at key gateways in northern Europe and other hubs, according to a new report which suggests trade wars could spread maritime disruptions to Asia and the US and push up shipping rates. Waiting times for berth space jumped 77% in Bremerhaven, Germany, between late March and mid-May, according to the report Friday from Drewry, a maritime consultancy in London. The delays rose 37% in Antwerp and 49% in Hamburg over the same stretch, with Rotterdam and the UK’s Felixstowe also showing longer waits.
Labor shortages and low water levels on the Rhine River are the main culprits, hindering barge traffic to and from inland locations. Compounding the constraints is US President Donald Trump’s temporary rollback on 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, which has pulled forward shipping demand between the world’s largest economies. “Port delays are stretching transit times, disrupting inventory planning and pushing shippers to carry extra stock,” Drewry said. “Adding to the pressure, the transpacific eastbound trade is showing signs of an early peak season, fueled by a 90-day pause in US–China tariffs, set to expire on Aug. 14.”
Similar patterns are emerging in Shenzhen, China, as well as Los Angeles and New York, “where the number of container ships awaiting berth has been increasing since” late-April, it said. Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd AG, said on a webinar last week that, although he’s seen recent signs of improvement at European ports, he expects it will take “another six to eight weeks before we have that under control.”
Still, Torsten Slok, Apollo Management’s chief economist, pointed out in a note on Sunday that the US-China tariff truce reached almost two weeks ago hasn’t yet unleashed a surge in ships across the Pacific. “This raises the question: Are 30% tariffs on China still too high? Or are US companies simply waiting to see if tariffs will drop further before ramping up shipments?” Slok wrote.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-25/europe-s-shipping-bottlenecks-expected-to-persist-into-july?srnd=phx-politics