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Coffee containers pile up at US ports throughout strike

The dumping of hundreds of containers with imported coffee beans at the United States' East Coast ports has actually stopped due to the strike of portworkers, exacerbating the tight supply in the biggest coffeedrinking country.

The hold-ups in shipment of imported coffee to U.S. roasters and coffee chains could even more increase bean rates which hit multi-year highs last week due to minimal supply, and raise costs for business and customers.

Prices for coffee held in U.S. warehouses are already rising due to the delays, said one coffee trader with containers stuck in ports.

We have some 40 containers waiting to be moved, stated the head trader of one of the biggest coffee importers in the U.S., which materials roasters and cafeterias nationwide.

The owners of the containers already told us they will charge extra fees if packages take longer than regular to be returned, he included, asking not to be called since he was not licensed to speak publicly on the concern.

A portworkers strike entered its 2nd day on Wednesday, halting the movement of containers through ports from Maine to Texas, affecting shipments of numerous products consisting of food.

Some coffee sellers have actually stopped using spot deals as they wait to see how the strike establishes, stated a second trader.

U.S. coffee stocks are at a low historic level, the traders said, because importers have been avoiding high inventories to lower storage costs throughout a period of high rates of interest. That circumstance makes the port issues even worse.

Some areas (in the U.S.) might have a supply squeeze, said the very first trader.

Industry participants believe, nevertheless, that the labor concern could be quickly solved due to the fact that the magnitude of the problem needs attention.

We source coffee from 35 different nations. If this ( strike) goes on for a very long time, everybody will be impacted, said Will Ford, president of operations at Arkansas-based Westrock Coffee Business.

(source: Reuters)