A fixed record. This is how conditions stood when the board was checked on Wednesday 19 August 2026, kept unchanged so it can be cited. For the current read, see this week’s conditions.
Sourcing conditions
What’s making chemical shipments slow or smooth this week, worldwide. Tap a card to read what’s going on.
causing delaysworth watchingrunning normally
Egypt · Suez Canal
45% downDelays
Suez transits vs 2023 · 7-day averageMost ships still avoid the Suez Canal
About 41 ships a day are using the canal, against roughly 74 before the Red Sea attacks. Little change on the week.
Since late 2023, attacks on ships in the Red Sea have pushed most Asia-to-Europe traffic away from the Suez shortcut and around southern Africa instead. The detour adds roughly 10 to 14 days and burns about a third more fuel, on the order of $200 to $400 extra per container. Carriers have been testing the route again as conditions shift, so the traffic count moves week to week. The ships missing here have not vanished: they show up on the Cape of Good Hope card beside this one. The number above is actual ships per day through the canal, against 2023, the last year before the attacks.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 16 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Africa · Cape of Good Hope
92/dayWatching
ships rounding the Cape · ~49/day before the Red Sea attacksThe detour around Africa is in full swing
About 92 ships a day are rounding southern Africa, roughly 87% more than before the Red Sea attacks. Little change on the week.
This is where the ships avoiding Suez actually go: down and around the southern tip of Africa. The detour adds roughly 3,000 nautical miles and 10 to 14 days against the canal route, burns about a third more fuel, and ties each vessel up longer, so the same fleet completes fewer round trips and effective capacity shrinks worldwide. Carriers accept that because war-risk insurance and crew danger in the Red Sea can outweigh the fuel bill. South Africa's ports have been busy bunkering and resupplying the traffic. When Suez recovers, this number falls back toward its old normal, so read this card and the Suez card as two halves of one story.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 16 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Americas route
30/daySteady
ships through Panama · low-30s is normalPanama is moving normally
Traffic is running at normal levels. The canal's constraint is fresh water, so dry seasons are the thing to watch.
The Panama Canal links the Pacific and Atlantic and runs on fresh water from lakes that rain has to refill. When water runs short, the canal's levers are how deep ships may sit and how many may pass: in the 2023 drought it cut daily transits to the low twenties and capped depth, which backed up cargo for months. Fewer feet of depth means less cargo per ship, not fewer ships. The number above is ships through per day, averaged over the past week.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 16 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Asia · Malacca Strait
213/daySteady
ships through the strait · vs its own recent paceMalacca is flowing normally
About 213 ships a day are passing through, about 3% below its recent pace.
The Malacca Strait is the narrow water between Malaysia and Indonesia that connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. Almost everything moving between the Middle East or Europe and East Asia goes through it, including most of the crude that fuels China, Japan and Korea. It is shallow, crowded and in places under three kilometres wide, with no practical detour: going around Indonesia adds days. Traffic here is a steady heartbeat, so a real dip means something worth knowing.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 16 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Gulf · Strait of Hormuz
95% downDelays
Hormuz transits vs 2025 · 7-day averageHormuz has all but shut
About 4 ships a day are passing through, against roughly 75 before the Gulf conflict. Down about 19% on the week before.
Hormuz is the mouth of the Gulf, the only sea route out for Saudi, Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Emirati and Qatari cargo. Around a fifth of the world's oil and a large share of its LNG passes through a channel a few kilometres wide, and there is no alternative route for most of it. That is why tension here moves energy prices worldwide within hours, and why it matters for chemicals: the Gulf is a major producer of ammonia, urea, methanol and polymers. The number above is ships per day against 2025, the last normal year before the conflict. Read this card together with the Middle East flow cards below.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 16 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
causing delaysworth watchingrunning normally
Europe · Rotterdam + Antwerp
+17%Steady
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceEurope's export hub is shipping normally
About 678 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 17% above its recent pace.
Rotterdam and Antwerp are Europe's front door and the continent's chemical cluster in one: refineries, crackers and tank farms sit alongside the berths, so a large share of Europe-made chemicals leaves through these two ports. Their outflow is a fair read on whether European plants are running and clearing product. Strikes, low water on the Rhine and energy costs all show up here first. The number is estimated tonnage leaving both ports, from satellite ship tracking, against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
North America · Houston + New Orleans + LA
+7%Steady
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceNorth America's export coast is shipping normally
About 823 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 7% above its recent pace.
The US Gulf coast is the export engine of the Americas: Houston for petrochemicals and plastics, New Orleans for grain and fertilizer moving down the Mississippi. Cheap American gas is what makes this material competitive abroad, so this flow is the physical side of the US energy advantage. Hurricane season is its own recurring risk, and a big storm can shut the whole coast for days. The number is estimated tonnage leaving both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
South America · Santos + Paranaguá
−22%Delays
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceSouth America's export coast has slowed sharply
About 349 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 22% below its recent pace.
Brazil's ports are the farm side of world trade: soy, sugar, coffee and orange juice leave here in volume, and the same berths handle the chemicals that serve that agriculture. Outflow peaks with the harvest, roughly February to July, when queues of ships wait days for a berth and inland trucking gets tight. What leaves is bulk and what returns is often fertilizer, which is why this coast reads as a mirror of the import card in the section below.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Africa · Durban + Lagos + Alexandria
−27%Delays
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceAfrica's export trade has slowed sharply
About 99 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 27% below its recent pace.
Africa exports raw material and imports finished goods, and these three ports are where both directions concentrate: Durban for South Africa's minerals and industry, Lagos for Nigerian oil and the west's trade, Alexandria for Egypt's fertilizer and Mediterranean traffic. Egypt in particular is a serious urea exporter, so a slowdown here is felt by fertilizer buyers worldwide. Volumes are smaller than the Asian hubs, so weekly swings look larger.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
China · Shanghai + Ningbo
−39%Delays
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceChina's export machine has slowed sharply
About 712 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 39% below its recent pace.
Shanghai and Ningbo, an hour apart on China's east coast, are the two busiest ports on earth, and a large share of the world's chemicals and chemical raw materials starts its journey there. When the outflow slows it usually means holidays (the big dip every Chinese New Year is normal), typhoons, or policy getting in the way, and buyers feel it a few weeks later as delayed shipments and tighter allocations. The number is estimated tonnage leaving both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
India · Mundra + Kandla
+19%Steady
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceIndia's west coast is shipping normally
About 122 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 19% above its recent pace.
India's west-coast ports handle the country's chemical and agricultural trade in both directions: India is a major exporter of generic chemicals and dyes, and simultaneously one of the world's biggest fertilizer importers. Mundra and Kandla sit closest to the industrial belt of Gujarat, so their flow tracks both sides. This is a smaller tonnage than the Chinese or US hubs, so its percentages swing more from week to week. The number is estimated tonnage leaving both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Middle East · Jebel Ali + Jubail + Dammam
−41%Delays
cargo leaving vs its own recent paceThe Gulf's chemical coast has slowed sharply
About 68 thousand tonnes a day are leaving, about 41% below its recent pace.
The Gulf turns cheap associated gas into ammonia, urea, methanol and polymers, then ships them worldwide, which makes this coast a direct competitor and supplier to everyone else on this board. Jebel Ali is the region's container hub, Jubail its petrochemical heart. Everything leaving here passes the Strait of Hormuz, so read this card alongside the Hormuz one above. The number is estimated tonnage leaving both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
causing delaysworth watchingrunning normally
Europe · imports
−17%Watching
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceEurope's imports have thinned
About 854 thousand tonnes a day are landing, about 17% below its recent pace.
What Europe cannot make at current energy prices, it imports, and most of it lands in Rotterdam and Antwerp. A container from East Asia currently takes around five weeks going the long way around Africa; the Suez shortcut, when carriers trust it, saves about ten days. Freight into Europe runs dearest in the autumn run-up to Christmas stocking and softest after Chinese New Year, and when arrivals surge, empty boxes pile up in Europe and get cheap to reship out. The number is estimated tonnage arriving at both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
North America · imports
−30%Delays
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceNorth America's imports have dropped
About 503 thousand tonnes a day are landing, about 30% below its recent pace.
Los Angeles and Long Beach are one giant gateway for Asian cargo into North America, and Houston adds the chemical side. The Pacific crossing takes roughly two to three weeks, against a month or more to the east coast through Panama, which is why the west coast feels changes in Asian supply first. Peak season runs August to October, when boxes get scarce and surcharges appear; the quietest, cheapest window follows Chinese New Year. The number is estimated tonnage arriving against its own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
South America · imports
−37%Delays
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceSouth America's imports have dropped
About 114 thousand tonnes a day are landing, about 37% below its recent pace.
Santos and Paranaguá are Brazil's front door, and Paranaguá in particular is where the fertilizer lands: Brazil imports most of what its farms use, and those cargoes peak through the middle of the year ahead of southern planting, exactly as the fertilizer tracker below describes. A ship from Asia takes four to five weeks, from Europe two to three. Containers can run short around harvest, when everything leaves full and comes back slowly. The number is estimated tonnage arriving at both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Africa · imports
−2%Steady
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceAfrica's imports are landing normally
About 221 thousand tonnes a day are landing, about 2% below its recent pace.
Durban, Lagos and Alexandria are gateways to three different Africas: the industrial south, the west's consumer giant, and the Mediterranean north. Much of the continent's cargo arrives via transshipment hubs, which adds days or weeks to headline transit times, and empty containers are chronically scarce inland, so availability bites harder here than on the main lanes. Rates firm toward year-end when consumer stock arrives. The number is estimated tonnage arriving at the three ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
China · imports
−21%Delays
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceChina's imports have dropped
About 1.3 million tonnes a day are landing, about 21% below its recent pace.
China is the world's biggest importer of raw material: crude oil, gas, iron ore, potash and phosphate all land here in volume, and they are what its chemical industry runs on. Shanghai and Ningbo handle the containerised half of that. Arrivals dip hard around Chinese New Year every year, when the country stops for a fortnight and factories restart slowly, and that lull is also when freight is cheapest. A sustained drop in arrivals means Chinese plants are running thinner, and export offers firm a few weeks later.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
India · imports
+26%Steady
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceIndia's imports are landing normally
About 266 thousand tonnes a day are landing, about 26% above its recent pace.
India is the world's largest fertilizer importer, and Mundra and Kandla in Gujarat are where much of it lands, alongside the crude and intermediates its chemical industry runs on. Buying is tightly seasonal: cargoes arrive ahead of the two sowing seasons, before the summer monsoon around June and the winter crop around October, and government tenders can swing world urea prices when they land. Cargo from the Gulf is only a few days away, from Europe two to three weeks.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
Middle East · imports
+50%Steady
cargo arriving vs its own recent paceThe Middle East's imports are landing normally
About 101 thousand tonnes a day are landing, about 50% above its recent pace.
Jebel Ali is the Middle East's warehouse: cargo lands from Asia in roughly two weeks, then fans out across the region by feeder ship and truck, and Dammam adds the Saudi east coast. The region exports chemicals in bulk but imports much of its consumer and project cargo, so this flow is the other half of the Gulf story, and it passes Hormuz like everything else. The number is estimated tonnage arriving at both ports against their own pace over the past month.
Kpler · UN Global Platform · IMF PortWatch · to 14 Aug 2026Read moreShow less
causing delaysworth watchingrunning normally
Worldwide · fertilizer
South buysSteady
the fertilizer year · southern hemisphere stocking upFertilizer's year has moved south
Northern fields are fed, the monsoon belt is applying between the rains, and the southern hemisphere is importing for its spring.
NorthFields are fed for the year. Attention turns to autumn dressing on winter crops.
EquatorMonsoon season. From the tropical Americas through West Africa to India and Southeast Asia, fields are being fed between the rains.
SouthBrazil, Argentina and their neighbours are importing hard ahead of spring planting. Ships reposition south.
Fertilizer runs on three calendars at once. The north feeds its fields around March to May, the south around September to November, and between them sits the equator belt, where the driver is rain rather than spring: the tropical Americas, West and East Africa, India and Southeast Asia feed their rice, maize, palm and vegetable crops around the wet seasons, several times a year. The months between the big peaks are when ships reposition and buyers restock. Most fertilizer crosses an ocean before it reaches a field. Russia and the Middle East ship much of the nitrogen, Canada the potash, Morocco the phosphate, and China swings in and out of exporting, while India and Brazil are the world's big buyers, with Brazil importing most of what its farms use. Roughly half the people alive are fed by crops grown with synthetic fertilizer, and our agricultural additives travel on the same calendar, blended in before the product heads for the field.
Season calendar · August 2026Read moreShow less
Week 34 · Wednesday 19 August 2026
9 delays2 watching9 steady
Biggest movers this week: Middle East · imports (-35% to +50% vs its own normal) and Europe · Rotterdam + Antwerp (-19% to +17% vs its own normal).
Week 33 · Tuesday 11 August 2026
7 delays6 watching7 steady
Could not check India's exports, India's imports this time.
Week 32 · Friday 7 August 2026
6 delays1 watching13 steady
Week 31 · Wednesday 29 July 2026
1 delays3 watching2 steady
US gas down about 6%. Oil up about 6%. Full picture on the cards.
Week 30 · Thursday 23 July 2026
1 delays2 watching3 steady
First week on the board. The record starts here.
One line a week: how the board stood, and what moved. The bar is the share of indicators in each state, so reading down the weeks shows conditions tightening or easing. Weeks before the board tracked twenty indicators show fewer. A week marked ↗ has a saved copy at its own address — open it to read that week in full, or to link to it somewhere it will still say the same thing later.
A general read on conditions. Figures are indicative, from the public sources named on each card, and are not price quotes or offers.