Approximately 200,000 shipping containers remain on ships off the coast of LA as pandemic-related gridlock continues to disrupt various supply chains
“We have about two weeks’ worth of work sitting at anchor right now,” Seroka said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. His port is trying to unload and then prioritize the cargo that needs to move off the port as quickly as possible.
“We had 25% of all cargo on our dock sitting here for 13 days or longer [and] that’s been cut in just about half over the last week,” Seroka said.
The backlogs have mostly been caused by a crush of goods coming from Asia.
While the longer hours has alleviated some of the congestion at the ports, Seroka said executives expect the crush of goods won’t slow down until February 2022, at the earliest.
“We’ve been buying more than ever as American consumers and the retailers have really tried their best to keep up with demand,” Seroka said. “The second quarter of next year is going to be focused on replenishing this inventory.”
Because of that, Seroka expects the 24/7 schedule will to continue into next summer, not just for the 90-day period announced by Biden at the White House supply chain summit.
“We’re going to have to work all out,” he said. He said part of solving the problem is finding the truckers and trucks to move the containers away from the the port. He said about 30% of the available appointments for trucks to pick up loads at the port are currently going unused.
Around the world, ports are congested as a result of the rapid rebound in demand for commodities and goods as much of the global economy has recovered from the pandemic. Shipping costs have soared, and companies wanting to move goods around are struggling because there just aren’t enough ships or containers available. All the while prices are going up for consumers.
— Anneken Tappe contributed to this report
— Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated officials are not expecting to see the import market strengthen until February 2022. In fact, officials said imports moving through the port are expected to remain at elevated levels at least until February 2022.
