The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

has more than 20

container port A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land v ...

s around its coastline.

West Coast

Gulf Coast

East Coast

New York - New Jersey container port traffic

Dredging of east coast ports are under way because of the New Panama Canal expansion and the expectation of larger container ships. The Jasper Ocean Terminal is a planned container terminal to be built on the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

downstream of Savannah, GA that is expected to begin operations in the mid 2020s.

Global supply chain disruption

The

supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...

s that were disrupted during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

faced huge challenges and struggled to recover. Industries around the world shutdown due to the rapid spread of the virus in 2020. There was reduced industrial activity and lower

consumer demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. In economics "demand" for a commodity is not the same thing as "desire" for it. It refers to both the desire to p ...

. While consumer demand increased quickly when lockdowns were lifted, manufacturers and distributors of goods were stymied by worker shortages and a lack of key components and raw materials. Additional bottlenecks included containers, shipping, trucks, railroads and warehouses. Ports around the world were impacted with ports in the United States in particular experiencing blockages as they were overwhelmed with

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

s and their cargo. The ports of

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

together account for approximately 40% of the

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...

s entering the United States. More than three-quarters of the containers leaving Los Angeles were empty in July 2021 whereas about two-thirds of the containers leaving U.S. ports are typically filled with exports. Many of containers were going back empty due to the rush by shippers to bring in imports of back-to-school supplies and fall fashions from Asia. This impacted Midwestern farmers and California Almond Growers who ship to customers overseas. Shipping companies placed a lower priority on products that paid lower shipping rates resulting in various exports being delayed. In October, there were a record number of ships at the docks of these two Los Angeles area ports as well a record number of ships waiting for a slip. In early November, more than 100 ships were anchored in San Pedro Bay. It was unusual for even one vessel to be waiting offshore before the coronavirus pandemic. In late 2021 and the first month of 2022, container ships have remained at American ports unloading goods for seven days on average, 21 percent higher than at the start of the pandemic. The mayhem at ports and shipping yards was a key driver for rising prices together with the market dominance of major companies. In early 2022, politicians and central bankers worked to tame

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

as businesses continued to struggle to manufacture and distribute their products. By July the total value of trade stuck on the water off the east and west coast ports was estimated at roughly $30 billion. Another $1.5 billion in trade was waiting for rail service at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles which was 60% of all containers waiting at these ports. By September 2022, the backlog at U.S. ports decreased partially due to slowing U.S. import volumes amid high inflation and rising interest rates.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States container ports Lists of ports Container terminals Intermodal containers Ports, container