Tanners wait as port labour disruption holds up US hide exports
14/11/2014
Approximately 500,000 hides and skins are shipped from the US each week, but recent reports indicate shipments are being delayed by as much as 12 days.
Disruptions, ranging from worker slowdowns to picket lines and strikes, have spread to all major ports on the west coast over the last few weeks. As a result, US exporters are finding it increasingly difficult to transport hides and skins from processing plants to container ships destined for foreign markets, USHSLA said in a statement on November 14. Shipping lines, rail-freight and trucking companies are delaying or rejecting export cargo because of “congestion and uncertainty”, the organisation said.
“Customers rely on US suppliers of hides and skins for reliable, consistent product delivery,” said
USHSLA president, Stephen Sothmann, in the statement. “It is one of the most important features of the US industry. This situation threatens to jeopardise the relationships the exporters have developed and the strong export values experienced over the last several years.”
The situation is the result of a breakdown in negotiations over a new long-term labour contract for port workers. Estimates put the cost of the disruption to the US economy at $2 billion.
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