Supply Chain Research

Vessel transits through the Panama Canal climbed 8% on a year earlier in May, resulting in a new record for tonnage after a 16% surge in neopanamax traffic. An increase in available neopanamax slots does not appear to have set demand alight, however, with the rate of bookings being just 63% of availability. That partly reflects an increase in ad-hoc use of the canal. In turn that is being driven by increased volatility in commodity shipping. Containerized freight volumes also likely increased after traffic from eight major Asian markets to the U.S. east coast expanded by 6% compared to a...