Port strike: West Coast port CEO confident facility can handle increased capacity
foxbusiness.comNational Milk Producers Federation CEO Gregg Doud discusses the impact that the port strike could have on various industries and the economy on 'The Bottom Line.'
The CEO of the Port of Long Beach is confident his Southern California can handle whatever increase in cargo it receives stemming from a dockworker strike at East and Gulf Coast ports.
«We do expect an increase in cargo» in the event of East Coast port strikes, Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero told FOX Business in a Monday interview conducted prior to the contract deadline elapsing.
LOS ANGELES, CA — OCTOBER 16: Aerial view of containers waiting at Port of Long Beach to be loaded onto trains and trucks on October 16, 2021 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images) (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images)
«The shippers, in this particular case of the East Coast negotiations, the shippers have more comfort and certainty so thus history tells you that during these sorts of sensitive contract negotiations, they start diverting cargo to other gateways, in this particular case the West Coast,» he said.
PORT STRIKE: CAN WEST COAST PORTS ABSORB EAST AND GULF COAST IMPORT VOLUMES
Other ports along the West Coast and ones in Canada, including Halifax on the East Coast, could field cargo that gets re-routed, Cordero said.
«We’re in a very good position to handle whatever increase in cargo we receive,» he told FOX Business, referencing the cargo volumes that moved through the Port of Long Beach in August.
The port’s workers handled over 913,800 TEUs that month, representing a nearly 34% year-over-year increase, amid cargo diversions and potential tariff increases, the port said at the time.
«That is a historical amount in our
Read more on foxbusiness.com
