The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

has more than 20

container port A container port or container 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 vehicles, for example train ...

s around its coastline.

Global supply chain disruption

The

supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, activ ...

s that were disrupted during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

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. The relationship between price and quantity demand is also called the demand curve. Demand for a specific item ...

. 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 intermoda ...

s and their cargo. The ports of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporat ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

together account for approximately 40% of the shipping containers 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 general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

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.

West Coast

Gulf of Mexico

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 The Jasper Ocean Terminal (JOT) is a planned deepwater container port that will be built in South Carolina on the Savannah River, about downstream from Savannah, Georgia. JOT is planned to open between 2035 and 2037. The terminal was originally pla ...

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 South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the nor ...

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

References

External links

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