West Coast Port Protest - The ILWU is instructing its membership to walk off the job on Thursday, May 1, 2008 in protest of the US presence in Afghanistan and Iraq. There could also be additional disruption of cargo movement over the weekend due to this action.

Trucking unions are also trying to rally drivers to strike May 1st in protest of high fuel costs.

French Port Strikes – JOC - Dockworkers in France are expected to extend a two-week campaign of strikes. The CGT union representing longshoremen will meet early this week to decide on its next move following a 24-hour strike April 23 that paralyzed the country's biggest ports, including Le Havre and Marseilles, the leading box hubs. Evergreen has suspended all service to Fos Sur Mer due to the strike.

All major airlines are raising the fuel surcharge. The fuel surcharge effective May 1, 2008 will be a minimum of .95/kg USD with a $ 15.00 USD minimum per Air Waybill. This will apply for all air export shipments originating in the United States.

Various countries and Phoenix offices will observe May holidays; here is a partial listing for your shipment planning and reference:

• Thailand - May 1, 5, 19
• Singapore - May 1, 19
• Cambodia – May 1, 13, 14, 16, 19, 23
• Malaysia, Italy, Paraguay – May 1
• South Korea – May 1, 5, 12

Exporters may face multiple year shipping crunch – American Shipper - U.S. exporters’ difficulties in securing ocean transportation for their products may not go away anytime soon, said participants in a roundtable discussion Thursday. While exporters may get a bit of a breather in coming months as the peak shipping season causes some carriers to increase capacity, the space crunch for outbound shipments is likely to be a "multiple year problem," said Ed Zaninelli, vice president of the transpacific westbound trade for Orient Overseas Container Line. In addition, the rising cost of truck and rail transportation has made carriers less willing to reposition equipment to customers, particularly at inland locations.

India's ports near busting point, says report – American Shipper – Ports are running at 90 percent of capacity and need better information technology systems to handle current throughput, much less the volumes projected over the next five years. Though India is planning to double its port capacity over the next five years, that may not be enough to stop the port congestion issue from hindering India's growth, the report suggested. The authors also said that increased privatization is a must to cope with India's 12 percent year-on-year cargo volume growth.

Our summary articles are compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Phoenix’s knowledge, are true and correct. In the event any information provided is erroneous, Phoenix International Freight Services, Ltd. accepts no liability or responsibility.