When U.S. West Coast port congestion clears, there are increasing signs that shippers’ frustrations with shipment delays of weeks will spur them to permanently re-route freight through the East Coast, much like they did in 2002 following a 10-day marine terminal lockout. “There a great deal of analysis going on within organizations on how do we set the plate for the future so we can avoid current congestion,” a major retailer told JOC.com “It’s causing a lot of sourcing people to really sit back and take a look.”
Last year both the East and Gulf coasts grew faster than the West Coast in loaded imports, according to PIERS, a sister company of JOC.com within IHS Maritime and Trade. Loaded imports grew 8 percent on the East Coast, 7 percent on the Gulf Coast and 5 percent on the West Coast. East Coast import market share ticked up to 40 percent from 39 percent in 2013, while the West Coast share dropped from 55 to 54 percent and the Gulf Coast remained steady at 6 percent. In the fourth quarter when the West Coast port congestion was at its worst, the East Coast saw a 13 percent increase in loaded imports, the Gulf saw a 12 percent increase, while the West Coast saw only a 5 percent increase, according to PIERS.
Livingston continues to track the ongoing labor negotiations and will post updates as they become available. We recommend you bookmark our West Coast port updates page and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest.
Source: Journal of Commerce