Since October 1, the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) has been on strike after failing to reach an agreement with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) regarding a wage increase for workers and preventing the automation of activities.

The situation has both importers and exporters on alert, as the stoppage affects port terminals from Maine to Texas, where all kinds of cargo arrives, including fruit.

Chile is among the countries that are concerned about the situation. Frutas de Chile reports that there is concern about the extent and duration of the conflict because shipments are arriving this week on the east coast of the United States.

“We regret that an agreement has not been reached between the parties, and today global logistics is facing the challenge of a shutdown of ports along the entire east coast of the United States,” said Miguel Canala-Echeverría, general manager of Frutas de Chile.

“As Frutas de Chile we are closely monitoring the situation because if the conflict extends over time, it could affect fruit in transit.”

The general manager said, “Currently our records indicate that more than 580 containers of Chilean fresh fruit are being affected, some of which have been left in Panama due to the impossibility of continuing to their destination or that they cannot be unloaded when they reach the East Coast, leaving the vessel on tour with the associated costs and the loss of delivery schedules to distributors in the United States.”

He specified that “these containers would correspond to approximately 11,743 tons of Chilean fresh fruit (11,362 tons of citrus, 177 tons of kiwis, and 204 tons of avocados), with an estimated FOB value of USD 37 million.”

Canala-Echeverría pointed out that “we must consider that the shipping lines have an itinerary to comply with and the regulation allows them to divert the cargo or leave it in the port closest to the scheduled one if the situation warrants it.”

“Thus, for example, if a ship cannot unload the fruit in the ports of the east coast and its next port of call is a port in Europe, it is most likely that the ship will wait a reasonable time and continue to its next destination, with the consequent deterioration of the cargo and cost for the Chilean producer and exporter.”

The opinion of the producers

From the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile (Fedefruta), its president, Victor Catan, also expressed concern for the port strike that has been going on since Tuesday, October 1 which directly affects shipments of Chilean fruit to that country.

“We find it regrettable that the port operations are paralyzed and at the same time we call on the parties to reconcile, agree, and resolve their differences so that the ports in the United States can continue to operate,” said Catán.

He added that “we believe that tremendous damage is being done to the U.S. population that is deprived of goods and food, in our case, making it impossible for the entry of top quality fruits that supply various supermarkets in that country,” he added.

This is the first ILA strike since 1977.

*This is a developing story

Related article: USDA releases statement on East Coast and Gulf Coast ports strike