With 40 percent of the cargo that is being delivered to the U.S. arriving at the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles, the wait-time for cargo ships to be unloaded continues to drive up inflation.
The cost of shipping goods in 40’ cargo containers from China to the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles since the pandemic struck in 2020 has risen 500 percent, skyrocketing the shipping cost per container to $10,000 to $15,000 per container.
Not only does that add to inflation that was at a 42-year nationwide high in 2021, but the extra expense that shipping lines must absorb as their ships are moored offshore during longer waiting periods to be signaled to approach the unloading docks is impacting each shipping company’s bottom line.
Thus, the time it takes a ship to sail from China to the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles and unload has nearly doubled, partly due to the long wait to be steered into the port for unloading.
It now costs five times more to ship goods from China to the West Coast, partly due to the longer waiting times caused by the ports being overwhelmed with cargo containers to unload and stack for trucks to load and haul away for distribution.
Once the cargo ships reach the West Coast, the captains must anchor their ships at designated locations at San Pedro Bay or wait in deeper water farther off shore until a nearer spot opens up.
The two ports combined are the 9th largest container complexes in the world, and combined, they are situated on 7,820 acres where there are almost 50 terminals and 150 cranes for moving containers.
Combined, the two serve about 3,600 ships per year. The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest in the U.S., and the 18th busiest container port in the world.
The Port of Long Beach alone supports 30,000 jobs in the City of Long Beach where the authority for the Port of Long Beach is the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners. Members are appointed by the Mayor of Long Beach, and the City Council of Long Beach confirms or rejects the mayor’s appointments.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners promotes, develops and sets policy for the Port of Long Beach as it has since being established in 1916.
The seaport generates about $100 billion per year and employs more than 300,000 in Southern Calif.
The leading imports being unloaded from the cargo ships are crude oil, plastics, clothing, furniture and electronics. Major exports are foods, waste paper, chemicals and petroleum bulk.
The top trading partners that utilize the two ports are China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan in East Asia. Outside of East Asia, the most frequent users are Ecuador and Mexico.
The inflation rate rose to 6.8 percent in 2021, and the shortage of truck drivers to haul away the containers combined with the backlog of ships anchored in the San Pedro Bay and others farther out to sea, contributed negatively to the supply chain while elevating inflation.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.