The Monthly Horizon

August brought widespread disruption across global shipping networks. In the Middle East, Strait of Hormuz traffic remained severely restricted, pushing cargo toward alternative gateways and contributing to import dwell times of more than 25 days in Navi Mumbai and 32 days in Mersin. Meanwhile, Suez Canal traffic reached its highest level in more than two years, with nearly 1,090 vessels transiting over a recent four-week period, although volumes remained about 41% below pre-crisis levels.

Ocean congestion intensified elsewhere, with more than 4.3 million TEUs of container capacity waiting to berth globally by late August—surpassing the nominal peak recorded during the COVID-era congestion of 2022. East Asia accounted for roughly half of the backlog as repeated typhoons disrupted Chinese ports, including a shutdown at Ningbo-Zhoushan and waits of up to 11 days around Shanghai. Additional pressure could emerge in September as reduced rainfall forces the Panama Canal to lower daily vessel transits.

Conditions improved somewhat in Europe, where Rhine River water levels recovered after critically low levels earlier in August forced some vessels to operate at only about 20% of normal capacity. While these higher water levels are allowing barges to carry more cargo again, freight costs remained nearly four times July levels, highlighting the lingering effects of a volatile month for global transportation.