port slowdown

On February 7th, the International Longshoremen Association’s Wage Scale Committee unanimously approved a new six-year contract between the ILA and the U.S. Maritime Alliance.  The next step is a ratification vote on Tuesday February 25th by the ILA rank-and-file membership.  Assuming rank...

A large coalition of agriculture and business groups asked President Biden to intervene in the west coast port labor negotiations.  In a letter signed by the groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, they say, “It is imperative that the administration work with the parties to quickly reach a new agreement and ensure there is no disruption to port operations."   The c...

In today's Focus On Fruit, we asked Jeff Correa with Pear Bureau Northwest how slowdowns at west coast ports have impacted the pear industry, and what he anticipates into the future.   Pacific Northwest Ag Network: Focus On Fruit: 09/08/22 on Apple Podcasts   If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@to...

Efforts continue to improve ocean cargo shipping as one way to resolve current supply chain disruptions. Yet, as commodity export trade manager Walter Lanza expressed, the outlook for 2022 does not look especially bright for a variety of reasons ...

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act has cleared the Senate. The reform bill, which received Senate approval late last week, would make it more difficult for ocean carriers to refuse to load American goods that are ready to get shipped from U.S. ports ...

The congestion continues at U.S. ports, making it hard for agricultural commodities to get shipped to overseas customers. Ray Bowman, international trade consultant and chair the District Export Council of Southern California, said the logjam at American ports didn’t happen overnight. “ ...

On Wednesday, the Biden Administration announced $450 million in grant funding for port-related projects through the Port Infrastructure Development Program. The grants can help ports expand capacity and improve the movement of goods through U ...

A coalition of agriculture groups is asking the Senate to consider shipping reforms. Specifically, the group hopes the Senate will consider the House-passed Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, or similar legislation. Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, and John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, are drafting a bill to address unreasonable ocean carrier practices ...

On Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans to increase capacity at California’s Port of Oakland and improve service for shippers of U.S. grown agricultural commodities. The Department of Agriculture is partnering with the Port of Oakland to set up a new 25-acre “pop-up” site to make it easier for agricultural companies to fill empty shipping containers with commodities. Fewer co

After already struggling with drought, California farmers have lost big overseas sales numbers because of a serious shortage of shipping containers brought on by COVID-19. A study from the University of California-Davis says the state’s farm belt lost $2.1 bil ...