There is increasing fear over whether dock workers in China will be able to unload container and bulk ships. The Agriculture Transportation Coalition is reaching out to carriers to try to get more flexibility for the exporters that use their service.
Some marine terminals in China remain open, but many do not, as the country tries to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A growing fear is that there will be no Chinese product ready to be exported, so the containers will stay trapped at Chinese ports as carriers charge U.S. exporters fees.
ATC Executive Director Peter Friedman says, “If things are slowed down in China, then they don’t have the cargo to ship to the United States because the factories are closed down, the truck drivers aren’t driving and the terminals may not be operating.”
Due to the uncertainty, the coalition is asking carriers to wait longer before charging penalties to exporters.