USDA Grain Transportation Report (4/13): Labor Unrest Briefly Suspends LA/LB Port Operations

According to today's USDA Grain Transportation Report, last Thursday and Friday (April 6-7), terminal operations at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles (LA/LB) were closed because of a shortage of dockworker labor.

Normal operations resumed Friday evening (April 8), but shippers experienced additional delays on Monday (April 10), according to the Journal of Commerce.

The incidents marked the latest port disruptions stemming from ongoing labor contract negotiations between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore Warehouse Union (ILWU). (The previous contract expired last July.)

PMA represents West Coast cargo carriers, terminal operators, and stevedores. ILWU represents West Coast dockworkers.

PMA characterized the April 6-7 episode as a “concerted action to withhold labor at the ports” by ILWU.

For its part, ILWU claimed the worker absences were due to a membership meeting on Thursday night and the Good Friday holiday the next day.

Many agricultural exporters on the West Coast particularly depend on the Ports of LA/LB and lack other economically feasible options.

Containerized soybean exports out of LA/LB represented around 4% of all soybean exports between 2018 and 2022.