Dominick Reuter and Erin Snodgrass of Business Insider report that the work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast port facilities is set to impact a host of consumer products. They write:
US port workers with the International Longshoremen’s Association are on strike following the expiration of their union’s contract Monday night.
In the latest development of the ongoing labor dispute, the work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast facilities is expected to impact a host of consumer products.
Atlantic ports handle more than half of US imports, with an estimated economic impact of $540 million a day, according to The Conference Board. […]
Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially those coming from Central and South America, are expected to be most impacted by the strike, said Margaret Kidd, a program manager and associate professor of supply chain and logistics at the University of Houston.
Top of the list: bananas and mangoes.
“Grocery stores and others in the supply chain aren’t holding a lot of inventory because they don’t want them to expire,” Brian Pacula, a supply-chain partner at the consulting firm West Monroe, told Business Insider of bananas. […]
Other perishables Miller identified were dates, figs, pineapples, and avocados, as well as more than 80% of fruit juices.
Tim Ryan, a Florida importer who supplies grocers including Walmart, told The Wall Street Journal he was having to fly in asparagus from Peru that he would ordinarily bring through the port of Miami. […]
Other food and beverage commodities, including beer, wine, and spirits could also be impacted because of their perishable nature, Pacula said. […]
Three experts said that with less than two months until Black Friday, the likelihood that the strike could impact holiday shopping and shipping was high.
Read more here.
FedEx, UPS Stand to Benefit from Port Strike