According to the NYT, 80,000 containers for shipping are stalled in the Savannah Port, which is 50 percent higher than average.
It’s a Disaster
Stolen containers are merely waiting for vehicles to transport these goods to ships or warehouses to transport them to a different port. Other ports, including Savannah, are also overflowing.
“Some 700 crates have been abandoned by their owners for a month or more,” according to the report.
Despite this, real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield told the Financial Times the need for inventory storage is at an all-time high with limited supply. According to the Logistics Managers’ Index, the cost of storing shipping containers is also at an all-time high.
Griff Lunch, the Director-General of the Georgia Ports Authority, told the New York magazine the Port of Savannah had never been this busy.
“We’ve never really had the port as full as this,” he added, pointing to the containers that have been lying in ports because their owners can’t find a place to put them.
Have you noticed that your grocery shopping prices are soaring? You're not alone… https://t.co/NsBEke9nyA
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“They’re not going to receive their cargo,” Lynch explained. “There has never been a time when the tension level has been higher.” Lynch claims the traffic bottleneck has caused cargo ships to spend nine days unloading.
He said there were more than 20 ships in line and they were anchored 17 miles offshore. Lynch described the supply chain as “overwhelmed and flooded.” At this point, it’s not sustainable. Everything is messed up.
Lynch further stated even if he had extra berths to discharge the ships, it would not alleviate the bottleneck, since he does not have enough space to store the cargoes. “It really doesn’t help if I have 50 berths if there’s no room out here,” he added, staring at the crowded dock.
“Six or seven months later, the ships come in simultaneously,” Lynch explained about the deadlock. “That’s not going to help.” The Times notes that almost 13 percent of the world’s commercial shipping capacity is tied up by delays, according to Sea-Intelligence.
Biden’s Economy isn’t Helping
However, inflation jumped by 5.3 percent in August, compared to 2020. The rise in inflation is mostly due to supply chain concerns, which implies commodities are having a difficult time transiting through ports on their route to consumers.
According to the New York Post, there have been “70 cargo ships waiting to land at the Port of Los Angeles” on October 7.
Thirty percent of manufacturers reported limiting production capacity due to labor shortages. Eighty-nine percent said they had challenges with supply chain disruptions and shortages. https://t.co/K5KSHpaiON
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A truck driver scarcity has also posed a problem for the ports. Several of the things American households rely upon are not delivered at points of purchase because of a lack of drivers.
The issue has been exacerbated by liberal states providing substantial unemployment payouts to people who do not want to work. These payments are in accordance with federal unemployment benefits, resulting in a reduction in labor supply.
