Factbox: Companies have planned for US East Coast ports strike

Nordstrom

01/10/2024 06:19

Oct 1 (Reuters) - Some 45,000 union workers walked off
the job at seaports on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts on Oct. 1,
cutting off vital trade arteries just weeks ahead of the
nation's presidential election.
    The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) union,
which represents dockworkers across 36 ports on the U.S. East
Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, remains deadlocked with the United
States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group on wage issues.
    The stoppage is the first coast-wide ILA strike since 1977
and halts the flow of about half the nation's ocean shipping. A
two-week strike could mean that ports would not return to normal
operations until 2025, according to Sea-Intelligence, a
Copenhagen-based shipping advisory firm.
    Here is what global companies and stakeholders have said
regarding a potential strike:
     
 Costco      U.S. retailer Costco's contingency plans
 Wholesale   include pre-shipping some products to get in
  COST.O     holiday goods early and preparing to use
             different ports, Costco's CEO Ron Vachris said
             last week.
 Maersk      The Danish shipping and logistics giant said in
           occur on the U.S. Gulf and East Coasts, even a
             one-week shutdown could take 4-6 weeks to
             recover from, "with significant backlogs and
             delays compounding with each passing day." 
 C.H.        "We have been working on contingency plans with
 Robinson    customers for months, helping them import
  CHRW.O     freight early and diversify freight to other
             ports," Mia Ginter, director of North American
             shipping, told Reuters. A significant volume
             shift to the West Coast could challenge rail
             services, requiring more use of truck and
             transload services, Ginter added. 
 Maher       Maher and Maersk's APM, which are members of
 Terminals   the employer negotiating group (USMX), said
 and APM     they were keeping their terminals at the Port
 Terminals   of New York and New Jersey open for two
             additional hours to clear cargo before the
             potential strike.
 Garden      The Garden City Terminal at the Port of
 City        Savannah and the Norfolk International Terminal
 Terminal    at the Port of Virginia have also extended
 and         their gate hours for the weekend before Sept.
 Norfolk     30 to clear cargo.
 Internatio  
 nal         
 Terminal    
 Hapag-Lloy  The shipping giant has said it is closely
 d           monitoring the strike situation and will keep
  HLAG.DE    customers involved as developments unfold.
 Andreas     The German chainsaw manufacturer Andreas Stihl
 Stihl AG &  AG & Co told Reuters it is also developing
 Co          contingency plans to keep exports flowing from
             its factory near the Port of Virginia, but
             didn't elaborate. Stihl's U.S. plant ships
             products to over 80 countries.
 Designer    Ronnie Robinson, chief supply chain officer at
 Brands      DSW parent company Designer Brands, said the
  DBI.N      company has shifted half of its usual imports
             through the East Coast to the West Coast.
             Robinson added that his company cannot risk
             late deliveries to clients like Macy's  M.N ,
             Nordstrom  JWN.N , and Dillard's  DDS.N 
             department stores, even if it means paying more
             for shipments. 
 National    NAM CEO Jay Timmons said a strike would throw
 Associatio  manufacturing supply chains throughout the U.S.
 n of        into disarray. "Billions of dollars of goods -
 Manufactur  from food to vehicles to electronics - rely on
 ers         access to the East and Gulf Coast ports,"
             Timmons said on Monday. 
 
 (Reporting by Abhinav Parmar and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru;
Editing by Alan Barona)
 ((mailto:Ananta.agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))