‘High Likelihood’ of Another East, Gulf Coast Port Strike This Month

Supply Chain Dive’s Alejandra Carranza reported in mid-December that “with less than a month before the International Longshoremen’s Association’s contract with the United States Maritime Alliance is set to expire, shippers want to know: Will there be a strike?”

“A major development in the prolonged negotiations occurred (in December) when President-elect Donald Trump voiced his support for the ILA’s stance against automation at the ports following a meeting with union leadership,” Carranza reported. “That hasn’t yet led to a new contract, with concerns over another strike growing as the Jan. 15 expiration date for a tentative deal struck in October approaches.”

“‘All in all, the situation points in the direction of another strike,’ Lars Jensen, CEO at Vespucci Maritime, said in a LinkedIn post the week before Trump met with the ILA,” Carranza reported. In addition, 13NewsNow’s Germyah Batey reported at the end of December that “workforce commentator Thomas Fellows said there’s a high likelihood dockworkers will go back on strike in the new year as the key sticking points that led to the October strike remain.”

Another sign pointing toward a potential strike, Reuters reported at the end of December, is that “shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has urged customers to pick up their laden containers and return the empty ones at the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports before Jan. 15 to mitigate potential disruptions at the terminals on account of a strike.”

Potential Stoppage Already Affecting Markets

Brownfield Ag News’ Larry Lee reported that “Joe Schuele with the U.S. Meat Export Federation tells Brownfield the industry has known about the January 15th, 2025 port worker contract deadline for several months, and he says ports and terminal operators are preparing for a possible strike. ‘For example, they are likely to stop accepting refrigerated cargo several days before the strike date.'”

“Schuele says exporters are also making continency plans now. ‘If you’ve got frozen product that is scheduled to go out of those ports in mid-January and you want to re-route it to the west coast, you really have to make plans for that right now. You’re not just going to assume that you have space available on a vessel,'” Lee reported. “Schuele says keeping the ports open is vital for the entire agricultural economy. For beef and pork exports alone, Schuele says a port shutdown would impact more than 100-million dollars’ worth of sales every week.”

How a Strike Would Affect Ag Shipping

In the run up to the first port strike in October, AgWeb’s Jim Wiesemeyer reported that “a potential dock workers’ strike Oct. 1 on the East Coast and Gulf Coast would not significantly impact grain export facilities.”

“The strike would have limited impact on bulk grain exports, including corn and soybeans. Bulk grain export facilities would not be affected by the strike as these facilities typically operate with different labor arrangements, such as their own employees or different labor unions,” Wiesemeyer reported. “…While bulk grain exports would be largely unaffected, the strike would impact containerized agricultural exports: Soybeans, soybean meal, and other agricultural products exported via containers would be affected.”

“While grain export facilities may not be directly impacted, there could be indirect effects on grain producers: The strike would significantly impact exports of chilled or frozen meat, eggs, and other livestock products, which are primarily shipped in containers,” Wiesemeyer reported. “Any harm to the U.S. livestock industry would indirectly affect soybean and grain farmers, as these industries are interconnected. East and Gulf Coast ports accounted for 44% of U.S. waterborne pork exports and 29% of waterborne beef exports in the first half of (2024). New York/New Jersey, Wilmington and Charleston were the largest East/Gulf ports for pork exports and Houston was largest for beef.”

Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks reported in September that “if containerized shipping at East and Gulf Coast ports were to stop, agricultural shippers would have two options: find places to safely store farm products or reroute them to ports along the east coast. Both come with costs, said Agriculture Transportation Coalition Director Peter Friedmann.”

“‘It’s never smooth,’ he told Agri-Pulse,” according to Wicks’ reporting. “‘It’s always painful, it’s always expensive, it’s always disruptive to move agriculture from one port to another.’”