Recently, the risk of a mass strike by port workers in the United States has escalated. The strike not only affects the logistics in the United States, but also has a big impact on the global shipping market. Especially regarding shipping costs, logistics disruptions and delays due to the strikes.
The risk of a sudden strike
The incident began recently and involved a number of important ports along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast. The striking workers, mainly from the International Association of Dockers (ILA), have negotiated tentative labor contracts on the grounds of automation. Because the port utility automatic system handles truck operations without using workers, the union believes the move violated an agreement.
These workers are key forces in port operations, and their strikes may have led to a reduced efficiency of port operations and even suspended operations in some ports. This has had a serious impact on international supply chains dependent on US ports, with serious disruption to cargo shipments.
Shipping costs, continue to rise
If the US East Coast port workers strike does appear, resulting in logistics disruption and delays. Market expectations for shipping costs have risen and hit new highs. On the one hand, any accident is easy to stimulate prices higher, now the risk of new Canada and the eastern US ports may strike, freight rates are easy to rise but not fall throughout the year. On the other hand, the problem of red Sea detour and Singapore congestion has not been resolved. This year, the freight rate from the beginning of the year to the present rise has not been suspended, and the second half of the year is still expected to rise.
With four months left in the negotiations, and without a consensus, workers will go on strike in October, marking the peak container transport season for the US holiday, making the rise in freight rates even more uncontrollable. But with the US presidential election just around the corner, many believe the government is unlikely to allow a strike. But business owners still need to do a good job of prevention, in which early shipment is a direct response strategy.
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Post time: Jun-26-2024
