Idled West Coast Ports Revealing Agriculture’s New Trend

WASHINGTON, DC – West Coast ports were idle on Friday as 38,000 union dockyard workers shut down all 29 U.S. Pacific Coast ports. The shutdown on Juneteenth was staged by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) but members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), which represents dockyard workers on the East and Gulf coasts, declined informal invitations to join the work stoppage. For agriculture interests, the shutdown highlights a growing export pathway for the grain supply chain. According to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), while containerized shipping has only been part of the supply chain for the last two decades, this segment accounts for a growing portion of grain shipments, particularly for specialty feed for food ingredients. Containerized shipping allows for a direct farm-to-table supply chain for coarse grains like corn, barley or sorghum, and even co-products like dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS). Containers can be loaded directly at the point of origination, inspected and checked at the border, and arrive with minimal additional handling at the destination point – whether that is the other side of the country or across the ocean. In addition to preserving quality by reducing the number of times the grain is handled, containerized shipping also allows for just-in-time procurement as customers can schedule a certain volume of grain to arrive on a specific time schedule, reducing the potential loss due to spoilage. Southeast Asia is a prime market, due to relatively inexpensive U.S.-to-Asia backhaul freight and growing demand for meat and feed.
(SOURCE: U.S. Grains Council)