Exports of wood and wood products in July 2021 reached US$1.33 billion, up 17% compared to July 2020. In the first 7 months of 2021 exports of wood and wood products reached US$9.58 billion, up 55% over the same period in 2020. In particular, exports of manufactured products reached US$7.45 billion, up 64% over the same period in 2020. Imports of wood and wood products in July 2021 reached US$282.7 million up 35% compared to July 2020. In the first 7 months of 2021 imports of wood and wood products reached US$1.83 billion, up 40% over the same period in 2020. A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp pullback in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of July. The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 7.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.534 million in July after jumping by 3.5 percent to a revised rate of 1.650 million in June. Economists had expected housing starts to slump by 2.6 percent to a rate of 1.600 million from the 1.643 million originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the report said building permits shot up by 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.635 million in July after tumbling by 5.3 percent to a revised rate of 1.594 million in June. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to climb by 0.8 percent to a rate of 1.610 million from the 1.598 million originally reported for the previous month. The fast-expanding Chinese container shipping service provider, Zhonggu Logistics, is launching a new international service connecting China with Vietnam. The new CV2 service, deploying containerships from its own fleet, will start its maiden voyage from south China on 27 August, including the ports calls of Nansha-Shekou-Haiphong. Providing connections to south China inland ports, CV2 service will guarantee ample supply of container and will be available for container’s pick-up and return at multi-locations. Zhonggu launched its first foreign trade service covering Shanghai, Ningbo and Ho Chi Minh City in March this year, and recently invested in 18 new containerships to expand its service network. Container availability and prices could be hit by lockdowns in Ningbo port and Vietnam warns Container xChange. “We saw a real and measurable spike in container prices and a major drop in container availability as measured by our Container Availability Index (CAx) when terminals at Yantian saw operations disrupted through most of June,” said Christian Roeloffs, co-founder of Container xChange. “Early indicators suggest we are likely to see the same impact in Vietnam and at Ningbo.” Looking to Ningbo and Vietnam, where there are current lockdowns, average container prices at Ho Chi Minh City jumped from $2,872 in May to $4,875 in August. For Ningbo where Meishan Island International Container Terminal (MSICT) suspended operations from 11 August Container xChange said it had seen early indicators of an increase in container prices. Average August prices have climbed to $5,731, up from $5420 in June. “Whether we see a further spike in container prices at Ningbo will probably be determined by how much cargo was disrupted at the port and whether we see additional shutdowns later this month,” said Dr Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO & Founder of Container xChange. “Even if there are no additional closures it is likely that container prices will rise on lower availability in the coming weeks due to the lag between liner schedule disruption and container availability and pricing.” FOMEX GROUP