A historic strike is underway at U.S. ports — and the impact on global supply chains could be huge
Published Tue, Oct 1 20247:29 AM EDT
Sam Meredith@in/samuelmeredith@smeredith19
WATCH LIVE
Key Points
- A massive dockworker strike at seaports on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts is expected to wreak havoc on global supply chains and the economy.
- Ocean supply chains have already been hit hard this year by conflict in the Red Sea, a lengthy drought affecting the Panama Canal and the Baltimore bridge collapse.
- “It’s really crunch time with so many things at stake now,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at ocean freight rate intelligence platform Xeneta
“We see the dominos fall in multiple stages now. At first, of course, the immediate effect is on the U.S. East and Gulf Coast, right?” Sand said.
There will then be a knock-on effect for vessels currently queuing outside the ports, he added, meaning their next journeys to the U.S. with new goods will be delayed.
“We will see disruption with some ships being late out of Europe and the Mediterranean towards the end of October and early November,” Sand said.
The ships will be delayed leaving Asia toward the end of December and early January — “and that’s basically when the next normal mini-peak in container shipping happens in the lead up to Chinese New Year.”
