New Zealand
AIR
IMPORT
- Major terminals (Air New Zealand, Swissport, Menzies) are operating normally nationwide.
EXPORT
- Major terminals (Air New Zealand, Swissport, Menzies) are operating normally nationwide.
LANDSIDE & CUSTOMS
- NZ Coastal Shipping – Swire Shipping have advised that the Pacifica Service will cease operations at the end of July 2026. Final voyage for the Moana Chief will depart Auckland on 23rd July, Arriving to Lyttelton 26th July.
- Weather conditions caused delays with freight movements in the South Island; SH1 in the South Island has road closures from weather damage causing trucks to take the long bypass routes. Rail Main North Line has been affected by the weather also, having closures in place.
- New excise duty rates and alcohol levy rates for alcohol on 1 July 2026 – The annual adjustment to the excise and excise-equivalent duty rates on alcoholic beverages will take effect on 1 July 2026. The annual adjustment is based on movements in the Consumers Price Index All Groups (less credit services subgroup) over the 12-month period ended 31 March 2026. Changes to the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Alcohol Levy rates will be advised by the Ministry of Health when they are available.
- We continue to see a high level of Customs examinations for containers that are transshipping in the Panama Canal region, we don’t see a change in this in the coming months. Please note that these will slightly delay the release of the containers.
Australia
LANDSIDE & CUSTOMS
- Following from carriers blank sailing programme, peak season is approaching earlier than usual this year. Carriers continue to raise rates through higher FAK levels and PSS while managing capacity via blank sailings and selective deployment. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are also weighing on sentiment, with elevated bunker costs and fuel surcharges adding further upwards pressure across trade lanes.
- Patricks terminal (Fisherman Islands) will cease operations between 0700 – 2300 hours on Tuesday 21st July
- Border Holds continue to persist, causing delays and additional charges for imports into Australia, affecting both air and sea consignments. These prolonged delays have been ongoing since December, and whilst border holds are not new, the duration and volume of current holds is well outside of normal operational expectations. The holds are seemingly random however and are causing significant delays and additional costs to the importers as they are not recoverable with ABF and costs incurred largely sit with importers. Industry is working with Border Force to advocate for more Border Force staff and wider transparency on reasons for holds. We encourage importers to factor in potential delays into planning and escalate through normal channels where appropriate.
Australian Border Force: Increase to Biosecurity Cost Recovery Charge from 1 July 2026 – Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) has received advice from Australian Border Force (ABF) via ACN 2026/23, that the biosecurity cost recovery charge applicable to Full Import Declarations (FIDs) will increase from 1 July 2026. The biosecurity cost recovery charge is collected by the ABF through the Integrated Cargo System (ICS) on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), and applies to imported goods with a customs value exceeding $1,000. The revised charges from 1 July 2026 are:
Asia
AIR
IMPORT
- New Zealand imports capacity remains tight across all of Asia including China. It is now typhon season across Asia and there have already been two that have caused delays across the region but mostly China. Most carriers off-loaded cargo to take on extra fuel which has caused congestion in several terminals.
- Australian import capacity is improving across major trade lanes, with some services experiencing minor delays.
- Rates continue to fluctuate for Australian imports depending on carrier and routing, with spot pricing available for urgent or oversized shipments.
- Following the EOFY rush, Australian import enquiry levels are slowly picking up again and bookings remain steady across key markets.
EXPORT
- For New Zealand exports; Most carriers are now starting to fill up quickly with bookings taking up to 48 hours to be confirmed.
- Australian export rates remain firm across key export markets, particularly into China and North Asia
- Capacity is getting tight with carriers starting to fill up quickly, early bookings are recommended for Australian exports.
OCEAN
IMPORT
- The typhoon season begins in Asia with Typhoon Bavi causing disruption in Eastern China (Shanghai and Ningbo) including several omissions of these ports on services to Oceania. Unfortunately, this will have a cascading effect on services that are already under pressure, with large roll pools.
- Space challenges have extended from North Asia through to South-East Asia and booking windows are now firmly in force for all origins in Asia. We encourage all consignees to work with their suppliers to ensure cargo is booked 4 – 5 weeks out from the intended ETD to ensure you get on the desired sailing. There are options for shorter notice cargo where required with Spot and Short-Term contracts.
- Empty Container availability challenges seem to have been mostly rectified, but we expect to see more localised challenges accessing certain types of equipment as we get deeper into this Peak Season.
EXPORT
- Adverse weather is impacting vessel schedules and forcing some vessels to change rotation or omit ports all together.
- Typhoon Bavi is set to cause significant damage across the East Coast of China and Taiwan this week
MIDDLE EAST:
There are limited-service options to the region. Some Carriers are offering services to Khor Fakkan and Al Fujairah in the UAE. Alternative services to Aqaba, Jeddah and King Abdullah entering the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean Sea are available.
Trans-Tasman
AIR
IMPORT
- New Zealand imports – Consols are largely moving as booked. Additional space remains hard to get, and rates are increasing for anything that sits outside the consols.
- Dnata, Swissport and Menzies Aviation continue to operate as normal in Australia.
- Qantas Terminal SYD: Temporary operational issues and delays over the last few weeks have improved and we expect to be back to normal within 1-2 weeks’ time.
EXPORT
- New Zealand consols are moving as booked and additional capacity is now available on freighters during the week.
- Export terminals across Australia continue to operate normally.
- Qantas Terminal SYD: Temporary operational issues and delays over the last few weeks have improved and we expect to be back to normal within 1-2 weeks’ time.
OCEAN
IMPORT
- Over the past week, Trans-Tasman services have experienced several delays resulting from poor weather conditions and ongoing port congestion. To maintain service integrity and support schedule recovery, shipping lines have been required to adjust port rotations and, in some instances, omit selected port calls to mitigate further disruption.
- As 20’ equipment shortages continue we are seeing a shift towards LCL (less container load) as the next best alternative transport mode. Delays can occur as we wait for shipping lines to find and make boxes available. Based on current market rates, any consignments 17 CBM or less can be on parr with an FCL (Full container load) shipment. At face value the cost per CBM as LCL is higher but savings in trucking (origin and destination), devan time and labour as well the complete removal of detention risk needs to be considered. While FCL pricing is subject to change and can impact this FCL vs LCL ratio over time, the lack of 20’ equipment supply in Australia will be ongoing.
- We have observed increased DG shipments in this trade lane, several of which are related to lithium batteries for electric vehicles and devices. Given that the process of approval of DG with shipping lines is quite involved, we would encourage clients to submit required documents as soon as possible. A check and then recheck on all mandatory paperwork helps facilitate us in achieving fast approval. If you are unsure of requirements or have questions, please contact our team as soon as possible prior to our Haz document cut offs on Fridays for Sydney and Melbourne consols and Wednesdays for Brisbane consols.
EXPORT
- Adverse weather is impacting vessel schedules and forcing some vessels to change rotation or omit ports all together.
Europe
AIR
IMPORT
- New Zealand imports: Consols are being delayed by up to 48 hours in transit, capacity remains stretched via all routes, and carriers are watching the reescalation in the Middle East closely. If the fighting widens then it’s likely that Emirates and Qatar will again cease operations causing widespread disruption across airline networks.
- Australian import capacity is improving on selected direct services, with transit delays of 24–48 hours still being experienced.
- Australian import rate fluctuations continue depending on airline capacity.
EXPORT
- New Zealand Exports: Capacity remains extremely tight with flights filling at least a week in advance, carriers are now taking express bookings over general bookings so shipments are getting off-loaded in transit and can take up to 10 days to arrive at destination.
- Australian export capacity is very tight with some of the cheaper carriers, booking lead times of 1-2 days may apply on some carriers.
- Australian Premium options are available for urgent cargo.
- Space is available for Australian exports with advance planning.
OCEAN
IMPORT
- CMA CGM has suspended booking on their Europe to NZ services via Asia due to peak season volumes causing congestion. Booking ahead by 3-4 weeks is recommended across all lines.
- Some lines have introduced Emergency Fuel Surcharges due to rapidly rising oil prices.
- BMSB season has now ended and will start again on September 1st, 2026.
- CMA CGM and Maersk are continuing to sail via Cape of Good Hope.
- There have been shortages of 20ft equipment from some ports.
- We have seen increased customs inspections from European ports particularly on cargo with any military connection.
EXPORT
- Due to peak season, space has tightened on all European services, please endeavour to place your bookings 4+ weeks in advance.
- Temperatures across Northern Europe have returned to more seasonal levels, and the exceptional heatwave conditions that recently impacted terminal operations across Benelux and German ports have eased. As a result, terminal operations are gradually returning to normal, with equipment performance, workforce productivity, and IT systems stabilizing.
North America
AIR
IMPORT
- New Zealand import consols continue to be delayed in transit by up to 48 hours. Trucking across the US is getting better but there are still some delays and miss collections due to driver shortages. Rates for anything outside of consol have increased significantly, in some cases up to 100%.
- Australian import capacity is limited with some carriers delaying up to 48 hours, early bookings are still recommended where possible.
- Australian import rates remain relatively stable overall, with some fluctuations depending on carrier and routing.
- Demand remains steady for Australian imports, following the EOFY period.
EXPORT
- Capacity remains full for New Zealand exports, expect around a week to 10 days to get a booking across all carriers, this is both the East and West Coast.
- Uplift availability remains tight across several carriers for Australian exports, with early bookings recommended.
- Australian export rates remain relatively stable overall, with minor fluctuations across selected services and routings.
- Australian export capacity remains manageable with sufficient forward planning.
OCEAN
- Vancouver terminal utilization is moderate at 79%, there are no berthing delays. The average import rail dwell time has decreased slightly to 2.7 days.
- US Terminal Operations:
New York – no berthing delays, rail dwell time is 1.8 days.
Norfolk – minimal berthing delays, import dwell time has increased slightly to 2.8 days.
Charleston – berthing delays of up to 3 hours, import dwell has reduced to 4.1 days.
Savannah – average berthing time has reduced to 9 hours. Import dwell time has increased to 5.4 days, rail dwell time remains at 1 day.
Houston – no waiting time for a berth. Import dwell time has reduced to 2.9 days.
Oakland – no berthing delays. Average import delivery timeframe remains at 5.6 days.
Seattle – no berthing delays. Rail import dwell time remains at 3 days.
Long Beach – average dwell time for local import cargo is 3.0 days, on-dock rail dwell is 4.3 days.
IMPORT
- No major challenges from the East or West Coast in getting space on sailings.
- There is some congestion forming at ports on either side of the Panama Canal however, for the most part, it isn’t impacting schedules too much.
EXPORT
- West Coast North America – demand has increased for direct service to West Coast of the US & Canada, the Vancouver calling vessels are heavily booked to mid-August with this vessel filling quickly. There is a blank sailing in week 32.
- US East Coast – space remains tight; we do encourage that bookings are placed 3+ weeks in advance of departure.
