The dockworkers who unload the ships along the Gulf Coast and the East Coast have gone on strike, but could the walkouts have an impact on the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports?
KNX News’ Jon Baird spoke with Gene Seroka, the CEO of the Port of L.A., and Mario Cordero, the CEO of the Port of Long Beach. They said they've seen their volumes increase, partly because the cargo has been diverted here from other ports in advance of the strike.
“Year to date, the port of Los Angeles is up 17% compared to last year,” Seroka said. “ We've had an extended peak season beginning in June, just concluding the first quarter yesterday. It will be our best all time.”
“So for the Port of Long Beach for August, we moved 913,000 containers,” Cordero said. “That is a historic gold record in our 113-year history.”
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Jerry Nickelsburg, the faculty director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast and professor of Economics at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, told Baird that this strike is one that retailers and manufacturers have known about for a long time.
“So they've taken defensive action by bringing in goods earlier,” he said. “So for example, in the East Coast ports - the port of Charleston serves several big manufacturers like BMW and VW and Boeing - to be sure those companies have brought in what they need in order to survive what they estimate is going to be kind of the length of the strike. So it really depends on how long a strike goes on relative to how prepared people are for the strike.”
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