See how the port strike will snarl shipments of bananas, beer, cars and more
The longshoremen’s strike is halting operations at ports across the East and Gulf coasts - threatening critical supply chains and potentially leading to the delay and disruption of goods from fresh produce to automobiles.
The dozens of sites affected from Maine to Texas handle shipments of car parts, machinery, pharmaceuticals and food, among other goods. Some goods will be stuck while the ports remain closed. Members of the union, who work to load and unload ships and maintain equipment, are on strike to fight for higher wages and restrictions on automation at the ports.
“When you interrupt the unloading of the ships, you interrupt the entirety of the flow,” said Douglas Kent, an executive at the Association for Supply Chain Management. That means shipments of clothes, furniture and electronics could be stuck at sea or in warehouses while the strike continues.
Oil and gas shipments won’t be affected by the strike, the Department of Energy said in a statement Tuesday, noting that other workers handle those materials. The Department of Agriculture also said it does not expect near-term shortages for most foods because of domestic agricultural production, and that exports of non-containerized bulk export shipments like grain wouldn’t be affected.
Large retailers have been preparing for a possible shutdown for months by stocking up on holiday shipments early and rerouting some goods to other ports. But if the strike persists, consumers could start to see delays.
About three-quarters of all U.S. imports of bananas come through East and Gulf coast ports, said Anna Nagurney, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Bananas are the most consumed fresh fruit in the country and are often shipped in from Central and South America.
“With the delays of loading and unloading, there are going to be immense losses in terms of fresh produce,” Nagurney said.
Other food and beverage products could also be affected by the port strike, said the American Farm Bureau Federation. About 80 percent of imported beer, wine, whiskey and scotch comes through the ports, according to the industry group.
And the automobile industry, which already faced an upset earlier this year when the Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed, could again face disruptions.
Last year, ports on the East and Gulf coasts handled about 40 percent of the country’s motor vehicle and parts trade, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
“A protracted strike will be debilitating to the auto supply chain and set off economic and national security ripples across the country - harming auto communities and consumers,” John Bozzella, the alliance’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Dozens of trade organizations and business groups, including the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, signed a joint letter to President Joe Biden last month calling for the administration to help negotiate a deal between the longshoremen’s union and port operators.
East and Gulf coast ports handle a significant amount of trade for the country - making up more than half of imports traveling by sea in containers as of Aug. 1, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The largest locations handled about $4.9 billion of exports and close to $2.7 billion of imports per month from August 2023 to July 2024.
The expected supply chain snarls from the strike are on top of recent global shipping challenges, including a prolonged drought that affected the Panama Canal and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. And the closures are coming at a key time for retailers to receive inventory for holiday shopping. If the strike continues, smaller businesses in particular could feel pain because they lack the buying power to significantly change their shipping operations.
“It creates a staggering amount of additional cost and transportation for small and medium-size and large companies,” said Paul Brashier, global supply chain vice president at ITS Logistics. “That trickles all the way down to the consumer, and that’s where inflationary pressure comes from.”
The shutdowns will back up shipping around the world, said Campbell University maritime historian Sal Mercogliano, who also runs a YouTube channel called “What is Going on With Shipping?”
“If you have a four-lane road and all of a sudden you shut one of the lanes, that’s going to cause congestion,” he said.
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Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. Editing by Kate Rabinowitz and Karly Domb Sadof.
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