Posted on 04/15/2021 8:20:39 PM PDT by Mariner
A supply-chain crisis is quietly brewing off the coast of Southern California as massive freighters wait for dock space to open up.
California ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach account for about one-third of US imports. These ports operate as a primary source of imports from China and have been heavily congested for months.
On Wednesday, 21 ships were anchored off the coast waiting for a spot to open up to unload at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, according to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
The Southern California ports are facing more congestion than ever, Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, told Insider.
"The normal number of container ships at anchor is between zero and one," Louttit said.
Some of the container ships have been waiting off the shore for weeks. One of the vessels has been at berth since April 3. Of the ships waiting to dock, half of them are what Marine Exchange calls "mega-container ships" or ships with the carrying capacity of 10,000 TEUs.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Yeah, there'll be inflation all right.
Sail to Portland or Seattle.
Even more interesting, those containers get emptied and sit in storage because we don’t send much back. There is a shortage of containers in Asia and prices for a container are some 400% higher than they were a year ago.
Those containers could be turned into in-law units in peoples back yards.
Who’s the boat owners McConnell or Finestein ?
It’s because of all that free money.
It’s by design I think.
Export money, jobs and intellectual property, import shit.
I bring in several containers a month from Europe. The shipping crisis is real. Yes, the boats are stacking up, but then the trains do the same as well as shortage of truckers. It’s a mess and really taking a toll on parts of our economy.
Wait! What’s that foul smell? Ah! It’s a union!
Good. Physics cuts China’s sucking up of out wealth.
Yeah, components of production delayed is a problem. I suggest they address that by packing the ships with less job-stealing garbage. And the manufacturers could get their components from more transportation-friendly locations- maybe even here.
Sounds to me like the deep state is manipulating the supply chains.
Where was that idea when I needed it.............?
Oh I know it’s real. I don’t generally import directly but I deal with dozens of suppliers who either do, or source from someone who does. I buy basic commodity type stuff - not straight from the farm commodities but basic materials used in all kinds of industries like textiles, cosmetics, food, healthcare, household goods, paints etc. Everyone is mad scrambling right now. Prices are up well over 10% on most goods I purchase and everyone expects they will continue upward.
And these are not really high margin goods. They are used to make high margin goods. So one of the problems is, as noted, the people importing higher margin goods like TVs and computers and $400 sneakers are paying to “jump the line” and get loaded ahead of these low margin suppliers who can’t pay the premium. Items that in 2019 were readily available across the country are being quoted at 80-100 days lead time and that’s just an estimate.
I try as best I can to buy American but the “dirty secret” is it’s not just the Nike’s and Apple’s who are importing. American suppliers of industrial commodities are and have been having their goods manufactured in China or Asia in general, bringing them here in bulk and repacking them here for resale in the USA.
I have been trying to close a deal, several actually, but I can’t (and won’t) over-promise and under-deliver. If I can’t make a delivery date I won’t promise to make it. And that is preventing me from closing a deal since the clients won’t place an open-ended PO. Too much may change in 100 days and they will have other opportunities. And I sure don’t want to take a PO now only to have it cancelled in July leaving me with goods to unload. I’m trying but it really is a mad scramble. I think I will close the deals I just can’t be sure of when. I did find a supplier who uses some of the materials to process their own products, and they have agreed to siphon some off and sell to me raw. So a glimmer of hope there. These closures and lockdowns have really run a number on us.
And yes, we give them paper and they give us consumer goods. If I lived on a few acres I’d buy some containers and build a zombie apocalypse shelter. But I live too close to a city. There are companies that retrofit those containers into living quarters and they could make decent shelter for the homeless for a lot less than it costs to build an apartment building. And easier on the eyes than tents on the streets or in the parks.
Any ammo in them?
I think I have some parts for my Suzuki floating out there
For perspective, if each of those 21 container ships were the size of the Evergiven which blocked the Suez canal the length of one ship’s 20’ containers stacked end on end would stretch for 75 miles.
75 x 21 = 1575 miles of containers which would stretch from Los Angeles, CA to Little Rock, AR.
There’s been a backlog off the coast for months.
Sounds like a demand slump build up. Who’s buying what ❓
We ordered Kelly Kettles last year and we just got an email from them saying our kettles were stuck on a ship in LA. They expect to be unloaded by the end of April.
Kelly Kettle rules.........Mine since 1986. Good as new and partially trained.
In your opinion, what effect will the current supply chain disruption + increasing prices, have on the US economy 6 months, 9 months, 1 year out? Would Trump being President have helped given his broad experience in supply chain issues and his ability to negotiate on behalf of American interests? Is printing money, inflating the money supply, at the root of this chaos?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.