China GDP Recovery as consumers resurface, Panama Canal cargo volumes are up, and New York Port sees

Monday Morning Wake Up Call

October 18, 2020

China's third quarter GDP set to show broadening recovery as consumers resurface

(Reuters) - China’s economic recovery stepped up in the third quarter, data released is expected to show on Monday, as consumers returned to malls and major trading partners reopened for business, shaking off the record slump seen earlier this year.

The world’s second-largest economy likely grew 5.2% in July-September from a year earlier, faster than the second quarter’s 3.2%, according to a Reuters poll.

China releases third-quarter GDP data on Monday at 0200 GMT, along with September factory output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment.

Policymakers globally are pinning their hopes on a robust recovery in China to help restart demand as economies struggle with heavy lockdowns and a second wave of coronavirus infections.

“China has become the first major economy to return to its pre-virus growth path, thanks to its rapid containment of COVID-19 and effective stimulus response,” said analysts from Capital Economics. However, they warned a renewed slowdown is likely from late 2021 as stimulus fades.

To Read More: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-gdp-idUSKBN2730Y9?fbclid=IwAR0qjB12yjgyE48gVpI5FcCeTP_S-DdVDmWBPiBLVVmjB8vpmU7AE5h06Zk

How Panama Canal navigated COVID, drought and trade war

(American Shipper) The Panama Canal debuted a $5-billion-plus set of larger locks in 2016, only months before a trade war broke out between the U.S. and China — the waterway’s two largest transit sources. The canal, which relies on water availability, suffered one its worst droughts ever in 2019. And then came the coronavirus. Carriers slashed Asia-East Coast services transiting the canal in the second quarter of 2020. In the third quarter, U.S. importers flocked to Asia-West Coast services boasting faster transit times.

And yet, despite all of this, the canal is not in crisis mode. Far from it. Overall cargo volumes are increasing as gains in some segments offset declines in others.

To see how the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) navigated COVID, drought and the trade war, FreightWaves analyzed transit statistics — including those not openly available to the public — and interviewed Silvia de Marucci, the executive manager of the ACP’s division of economic analysis and market research.

“We continue to grow,” affirmed De Marucci. “Even in a pandemic. And that is very reassuring.”

To Read More: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-panama-canal-navigated-covid-drought-and-trade-war

‘Untraditional peak’ a good thing at Port of New York/New Jersey

The Port of New York and New Jersey expects container volumes that have rebounded sharply from the height of the coronavirus pandemic to remain strong through the rest of the calendar year.

Canceled — or blanked — sailings commonplace during the economic shutdown in the spring and early summer have waned. The port said there are only two more blanked calls on the books for this year.

And last month the port welcomed the CMA CGM Brazil, the largest container ship to call a U.S. East Coast port, with a capacity of 15,072 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The return of cargo in huge quantities helped the Port of NY/NJ achieve a monthly container record in August, moving a total of 688,365 TEUs, a 1.3% year-over-year increase. Year-to-date volume through Aug. 31 totaled 4,661,453 TEUs.

The port also set a record for intermodal rail volume in August. “At almost 65,000 lifts, the portwide intermodal ExpressRail system handled 7.8% more volume than August 2019, with overall rail volume up 1.4% year-to-date through August 2020,” the port said.

To Read More: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/untraditional-peak-a-good-thing-at-port-of-new-yorknew-jersey

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