Susan Oatway FICS

Sessions With Susan Oatway FICS

Wednesday, 19 April

• 03:30pm - 05:30pm (CST) / 19/apr/2023 08:30 pm - 19/apr/2023 10:30 pm

  Shipper Roundtable - BY INVITATION ONLY FOR SHIPPERS (Only cargo owners are eligible to attend.)

  This exclusive, shipper-only discussion facilitated by JOC Senior Editor Janet Nodar will bring together breakbulk and project cargo shippers in an off-the-record meeting to exchange ideas and potential solutions to the numerous challenges confronting stakeholders in the North American supply chain, while learning what they expect to learn from the conference sessions and panelists over the coming two days. BY INVITATION ONLY FOR SHIPPERS (Only cargo owners are eligible to attend.)

  • Speakers:
  • Janet Nodar
  • Susan Oatway FICS

Thursday, 20 April

• 09:30am - 10:00am (CST) / 20/apr/2023 02:30 pm - 20/apr/2023 03:00 pm

  Spillover No More: What Today’s Container Shipping Market Means for Breakbulk Logistics

  Does the dramatic collapse in container spot rates during the second half of 2022 signal a return to the pre-pandemic status quo, or has the market shifted in more fundamental ways? Carriers’ claims that operating costs are up and must be passed on to customers will trigger déjà vu on the shipper side, even as these shippers used the second half of last year to press for revisions to contracts negotiated during a much tighter market. Flush with pandemic market cash, carriers have diversified into a range of logistics services and other businesses and, at least in the run-up to the pandemic, became skillful at managing capacity — but they still must earn their living moving cargo. What can shippers expect as 2023 unfolds and, most importantly for breakbulk shippers, what are the implications for a multipurpose sector that flourished — after a painful, decade-plus recession — in the pandemic spillover market? Have all spillover cargoes by this point returned to container ships, or are shippers continuing to diversify their shipping modes as a longer-term risk-management strategy? Will cargo-hungry container carriers chase breakbulk cargoes even more aggressively? Peter Tirschwell, vice president of S&P Global Market Intelligence, will share his container market perspective and outlook before being joined by Journal of Commerce research analyst Susan Oatway to discuss the likely knock-on effects that the much-larger container market may have in store for the multipurpose side.

  • Speakers:
  • Peter Tirschwell
  • Susan Oatway FICS

• 03:30pm - 04:15pm (CST) / 20/apr/2023 08:30 pm - 20/apr/2023 09:15 pm

  Brownwater and Heavy Transport: Moving OOG Cargo by Barge and Road

  Low water, high water, weight restrictions, scarce labor, and scarce equipment all serve to complicate the seemingly straightforward movement of out-of-gauge and breakbulk cargo by barge in the US. Following several seasons of dangerously high water on the lower Mississippi, water at once-in-a-century lows stymied cargo movement on the river system for weeks in late 2022, while the labor shortages triggered by the pandemic market are a problem with no end in sight. The hand-off from barge to heavy-haul or specialized transportation also must be managed, often at remote sites with little or no infrastructure in place. Transportation delays and complications caused by these factors increase risks for shippers who must, in many cases, meet demanding project schedules or face costly penalties. In addition, brownwater service providers, like their bluewater brethren, must incorporate increasingly stringent emissions control and decarbonization requirements into their operations. In this roundtable session, service providers and cargo shippers will delve into the problems of OOG river transportation in the US.

  • Speakers:
  • Addison Albin
  • Billy Everett
  • Anthony Croley
  • Joye Runfola
  • Susan Oatway FICS

Friday, 21 April

• 09:45am - 10:30am (CST) / 21/apr/2023 02:45 pm - 21/apr/2023 03:30 pm

  Deciphering the Multipurpose Market: Analysts and Shippers Assess the Indicators

  What lies ahead for the multipurpose vessel sector — and how do we know this? Given the complexity of the MPV market, no single index can supply all the answers that shippers and logistics service providers would like to have. What indicators beyond those derived from the MPV fleet are the most useful, and how do shippers and logistics transportation providers use them? What more might be provided or created? In this session, leading industry analysts will share their outlooks for the MPV market and discuss how these forecasts are produced and what else might be possible. 

  • Speakers:
  • Justin Archard
  • Frank Mueller
  • Yorck Niclas Prehm
  • Cyril Joseph Varghese
  • Susan Oatway FICS

• 02:00pm - 02:45pm (CST) / 21/apr/2023 07:00 pm - 21/apr/2023 07:45 pm

  Ports, Terminals, and Breakbulk: Realigned Relationships in a Decarbonizing World

  A new era of supply chain complexities and increasingly competitive cargo markets is pressuring ports and terminals like never before. How best can ports, terminals, carriers, and shippers work together to address congestion, port choice, decarbonization, green fuels, labor, and other issues affecting performance and efficiency — or the lack thereof? The pandemic market shocked shippers and logistics service providers by forcing them to see how vulnerable they are to supply chain snarls. What’s changed now that the market is turning, and what behaviors and choices are reverting to old norms and patterns? How do ports and terminals improve productivity, address users’ needs, make better use of existing assets, and gear up for the responsibilities that will increasingly come with facilitating decarbonization? This roundtable discussion will bring together port users and service providers to examine these complex questions.

  • Speakers:
  • Francisca Cruz
  • Cameron Gibson
  • Corrie Henry
  • Christopher Popjoy
  • Susan Oatway FICS