Ships are piling up in some West Coast ports, and commercial shipping prices are spiking, amid a labor fight between port operators and workers that is threatening to trigger a new round of supply-chain disruptions that could lead to shortages or higher prices, The Hill reported. The fight is sparking concerns among lawmakers who worry surging container prices could ripple through the economy and hit all sorts of consumer goods in a repeat of supply-chain problems following pandemic shutdowns. Data from logistics platform Go Comet shows median delay times trending upward this week in several key West Coast ports, including Los Angeles, Long Beach and Seattle. Wait times at the port of Seattle are now more than a week. “Container rates for importing 40-foot containers to the United States’ West Coast over the past week have jumped 20 percent week over week, likely as a result of the anticipated congestion at the ports. This follows a dramatic lull in rates after last year’s highs,” said Eytan Buchman, who works with logistics booking company Freightos. In the port of Oakland, Calif., operations were shut down over the weekend due to a labor strike but resumed Monday, “with heavy traffic experienced at the gate,” according to German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd.
