FourKites measures UK port delays in wake of strikes

News 13 Oct 2022 by WCN Editorial

After the first port worker strike began at the Port of Felixstowe, FourKites saw a significant increase in days at terminal for containers currently at the facility; Liverpool situation also analysed

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On 21 August (the day the first strike began), ocean shipments (including import/export/transshipment) at the Port of Felixstowe had been at terminal for 5.5 days on average. By 30 August, this had increased to a peak of 10.3 days on average, an 87% increase, stated Glenn Koepke, VP of Network Collaboration at FourKites, the real-time supply chain visibility platform.

After the initial strike ended, average days at terminal at Felixstowe decreased down to 3.8 days on average, though the onset of the second strike on 27 September has since caused this to increase again by 84% to 7.0 days as of 3 October.

Over this period, a collection of major European ports (including Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, and Antwerpen) has remained mostly stable, with the 7-day average days at terminal at 6.4 days as of 3 October.

During the initial Felixstowe strike, FourKites saw shipment arrivals to Felixstowe decrease from 20% of all U.K. port arrivals to 0% (during the week of 7 August).

During this time period, it appears that many shipments may have been rerouted to other ports in the UK such as Southampton, which saw an increase from 13% to 24% over the same two-week period.

FourKites has also seen a decrease in shipments arriving to Liverpool as the strikes began late in September, where shipment arrivals decreased by 85% month-over-month.

Felixstowe has also seen another decrease in shipment arrivals as the second strike began, decreasing by 57% week-over-week.