ILWU & PMA Shippers Allianceare still in a stalemate, neither side is budging.

U.S.agricultural export industry has been severely damaged by the West Coast port gridlock. Exports of all expendable products have seen their orders shrink and opportunities dry up because of the work slow down at the West Coast ports. Damages range from produce rotting on the docks waiting to be loaded up, to cancelled orders because due to unrealistic transport times due to the slowdown.

Export opportunities and cancelled contracts due to labor disputes and slow down is not a new phenomenon, every West Coast U.S. port has been affected by work slow downs, strikes, job walk offs for at least the last two years – this on going port disruption is having ripple affects throughout the U.S. economy as the disputes no longer are solved in a matter of weeks, they now tend to drag on for years as both sides refuse to give in some concessions.

According to data provided by a trade group, U.S. Pork, Chicken, and Beef exports through the West Coast saw over a 5% decline during the fall shipping season which lasts September-November. Apple exports fell over 1000 TEU and pear exports fell by 500 TEU.

A lot of our products that we have not been able to export regularly are high priced commodities. Before the Mess on the West Coast, the U.S. was the leader in exporting fresh Beef & Pork, but not the U.S. is losing the beef & pork markets because shippers cannot get the produce through the ports and to the customer in a timely basis.

Last Week China announce it was removing tariffs on U.S. apples – in a perfect world this would be great news for farmers on the West Coast who are drowning in apples, but they cannot begin to even think about exporting apples to china until the port Stalemate is over – apples cannot sit in containers on the dock for weeks, they will spoil, even if the container is refrigerated the apples have a certain shelf life before they all start to spoil.

Japan has for decades depended upon hay exports from U.S. farmers on the West Coast, but U.S. hay cannot arrive in Japan on a timely basis, live stock is starving and Japan does not have the hay farming infrastructure to makeup for losses of hay exports from the U.S. west coast Japan recently announced they will begin purchasing and importing hay from New Zealand as soon possible in order to makeup for the shortages from America..

We need only to look back in time to 2002 to see the impacts of West-Coast port problems: Japanese candy makers could not get access to California almonds, due the inability to get almonds Japanese candy makers began sourcing almonds in Turkey, and to this day they have still rely solely on Turkey for almonds, citing California Almonds as a risky bet that they cannot always rely on.

The U.S. is losing exports and market share as Asia’s middle class is growing wealthier and with that new found wealth comes a taste for imported American products. American farmers and shippers are losing out on an enormous market that is clamoring for the goods they want to sell.

Work slowdowns and gridlock on the West Coast ports is going to damage all aspects of the American economy – less goods will be exported, which means less need for longshoremen labor. The longshoremen in the short-term are tying the noose to not only hang themselves, but hang the agriculture exporters as well with them.

Analysts predict that eventually Agriculture producers will just ship less or ship through other ports, meanwhile U.S. ports will be upgraded in response to the on-going labor mess to be more and more automated, putting the longshoremen out of work. It is only a matter of time until U.S. exports recover, and the longshoreman job is but only a memory of the past.

Questions / Comments? Contact: Mark@cmaritime.com.cn