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United States port strike interrupts hamburger materials, frozen seafood

Dockworkers striking at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports are preventing imports of beef that restaurants and sellers significantly count on to make hamburgers due to minimal domestic materials, traders and market members stated.

The labor strike blocks everything from deliveries of vehicles to containers filled with Guatemalan bananas and Italian wine from filling or unloading at dozens of ports from Maine to Texas. Together with beef, imports of seafood and U.S. exports of chicken are being disrupted.

Even short-term disruptions to shipments might snarl the broader U.S. food supply chain, according to specialists and food importers. If the strike stretches out, the outcome will be either shortages of some foodstuff, cost inflation or both, they said.

More than 50 container ships were currently anchored or loitering off dozens of East Coast and Gulf ports as of early Wednesday, compared to simply 3 on Sunday before the strike, according to Reuters shipping information and Everstream Analytics.

From a supply chain standpoint, this is a headache, stated Jason Miller, interim chair of Michigan State University's. department of supply chain management.

The beef sector could see causal sequences if the strike. interrupts imports for more than a week, industry members stated.

U.S. beef materials tightened after a serious dry spell and high. grain costs triggered ranchers to sell their cattle,. shrinking the nation's herd to the lowest level in years.

The decrease in livestock numbers caused soaring U.S. beef. rates and a flurry of cheaper imports. Beef imports from. Australia jumped 72% through July this year, according to U.S. Department of Farming data. Imports from New Zealand and. Brazil have also increased.

In anticipation of the strike, suppliers to U.S. grocers and. fast food dining establishments ramped up imports of frozen lean beef that. is combined with domestic materials to make hamburger meat, 3. market members said.

Dan Sorbello, who imports beef into the Ports of. Philadelphia and Houston, said he unloaded containers from. vessels quicker than typical ahead of the strike to make. sure he might take possession of the meat and distribute it.

We have actually got ourselves perhaps a week's worth of lifeline, stated. Sorbello, principal for Sorbello Refrigerated Providers.

SURF AND TURF

PanaPesca USA LLC, which imports and exports seafood, likewise. stockpiled on extra products of squid and shellfish to fulfill its. customers' requirements ahead of the strike, said primary commercial. officer Eric Buckner.

Much of PanaPesca's item in freezer freight containers. gotten here, but some is still stuck on ships now anchored offshore,. he stated.

The strike might increase expenses for junk food dining establishments if. it continues more than a week, said Bob Chudy, a specialist for. business that import beef.

All of a sudden, junk food chains that have actually been counting on. much more reasonably priced lean meat from abroad would be. forced to turn to domestic alternatives, Chudy said.

McDonald's Corp and Burger King, owned by Restaurant. Brands International, did not react to ask for. remark.

Beef importers might face demurrage costs if the strike. continues, costs that might be passed on to customers, analysts. stated. Shipments of refrigerated fresh meat, which can be utilized in. dining establishment dishes like fajitas, danger spoiling, they said.

U.S. market prices for hamburger in August reached a. record high of $5.58 per pound, according to the most recent. available federal data.

For the U.S. chicken market, which relies on exports, the. strike is likewise ill-timed, said Matt Busardo, product. details company Expana's group lead for U.S. poultry.

Domestic demand is waning as customers switch to eating. cold-weather meals like pot roast and chili, rather of barbecuing. chicken, he stated. The sector counts on ports such as Savannah to. export leg quarters and drumsticks to nations including Angola. and Cuba.

(source: Reuters)