DENVER — The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) continues to put the issue of a possible Oct. 1 strike of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and negotiations with the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) front and center. The association stated that a strike at ports along the East and Gulf coasts would significantly impact the industry. 

“The largest ports for US beef and pork exports are on the West Coast, the three big ports there, but that doesn’t mean that the East and Gulf Coast isn’t important,” said Dan Halstrom, president of USMEF.

Port Import/Export Reporting Service (PIERS data) provided by USMEF showed that through July, 45% of waterborne US pork exports were shipped through the East and Gulf Coast ports, along with the share of waterborne beef exports being 30%.

“You know that 30% might sound a little low, but it doesn’t mean it’s not important, because there’s quite a high percentage of chilled beef that goes out, very high value chilled beef, that goes out from the East Coast, in particular for destinations like Europe and the Middle East,” Halstrom added.

Last week, USMEF and 177 trade associations urged the White House and Congress to help bring the two sides together to avoid the port shutdown. 

“Redirecting to the West Coast is a potential, very short-term solution, but it’s by no means a long-term solution at all, because it’s not just US beef and pork,” Halstrom stated. “You’ve got all sorts of commodities that use these same ports. We’re challenged to export all of our product today using all the ports, so we cannot afford a shutdown in any part of the supply chain. Here we are just a few days away from the expiration of the contract on Sept. 30. We need to get the White House or anyone else involved that can help to spur discussions to get back to the table and avoid any kind of interruption of service later this month.”

Below are two graphics from USMEF detailing the Top 10 pork and beef port locations around the United States. 

USMEF beef.jpgSource: US Meat Export Federation



USMEF pork.jpgSource: US Meat Export Federation