THE US west coast dock slowdown could result in the loss of US agricultural exports in the time-sensitive perishable market, according to reefer executives.
Owner of M&L Refrigerated Terminal Inc. (M&L) in Stockton, California, Mike Girdner, says logistics at US ports must improve and "repurpose local and regional assets, or the United States is going to lose market share."
Mr Girdner says that the United States "has a number of competitors who are calling attention to what is going on in the US" and are prepared to take markets away, reports the American Journal of Transportation.
The refrigerated business is a "low volume but high value export market" and because products are perishable and require refrigeration, they quickly lose their shelf life if they are not expeditiously moved from producer to end users abroad.
Mr Girdner said that the impact on perishables includes US producers of beef, chicken, and pork, as well as citrus and produce.
He said recent disruptions at ports such as Oakland lead to backups throughout the country and ultimately to the inability to move agricultural products as far away as Kansas and Iowa.
Owner of Stockton's RIM Logistics, Mike Bowden, agreed, noting that "when there is a slowdown in the unloading of import containers, there is a slowdown in the supply of refrigerated export containers, and the result is that both importers and exporters are suddenly unable to move product."
Mr Bowden also said that exporters of tomato paste are in a better position to withstand dislocations because their product is canned and not refrigerated. But exporters of protein, such as beef, pork and chicken cannot wait.