USDA Partnership to Ease Port Congestion, Restore Disrupted Shipping
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced plans to increase capacity at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif., and improve service for shippers of U.S. grown agricultural commodities, USDA said in a release.
USDA is partnering with the Port of Oakland to set up a new 25-acre “pop-up” site to make it easier for agricultural companies to fill empty shipping containers with commodities. Fewer containers have been made available for U.S. agricultural commodities and ocean carriers have circumvented traditional marketing channels and rushed containers back to be exported empty and as a result, many of these carriers have suspended service to the Port of Oakland. USDA plans to take action to reduce these shipping disruptions that have prevented U.S. agricultural products from reaching their markets.
“COVID-19 revealed vulnerabilities across our supply system, both at our ports and in the agricultural sector,” Vilsack said in the release. “As the economy has made an historic recovery, it has put additional strain on the supply chain. The Biden-Harris Administration is using creative approaches to improve port operations while elevating American-grown food and fiber. This partnership with the Port of Oakland builds on our aggressive approach to addressing challenges within the supply chain and sends a strong signal that we are committed to working across the Administration and with state, local and private partners to mitigate complex port capacity and congestion issues and to keep American agriculture on the move.”
The site will provide space to prepare empty containers beginning in March. Agricultural companies and cooperatives will have easier access to these containers, which they will fill with commodities, restoring shipping services to agricultural products while relieving congestion, the release said. The new site will also have a dedicated gate with the ability to pre-cool refrigerated shipping containers to receive perishable commodities, all while avoiding bottlenecks that would have resulted from entering the main area of the Port.
“This creative partnership with USDA and the Port of Oakland will help American farmers and agricultural producers move their product to market while also making better use of empty containers that are causing congestion at the ports,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release.
Pressure Mounts
Buttigieg and Vilsack urged the world’s leading ocean carriers in December to help mitigate disruptions to agricultural shippers by restoring reciprocal treatment of imports and exports and improving service. However, ocean carriers have made fewer containers available for U.S. ag commodities, repeatedly changed return dates and charged unjust fees as the ocean carriers short-circuited the usual pathways and rushed containers back to be exported empty, USDA noted in the release.
USDA has been actively developing options to alleviate market disruptions for agricultural producers and companies using the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) resources set-aside last fall, with a special focus on transportation challenges such as ports and trucking.
USDA will cover 60% of the start-up costs using Commodity Credit Corporation funds. USDA said it will also help cover additional movement logistics costs at $125 per container.
This project is designed to enhance marketing of U.S. agricultural products through quicker pickup of empty containers as the main terminal is bypassed, access to available equipment and fewer unpredictable congestion surcharges for trucks.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation said it appreciates the efforts of USDA, the Port of Oakland and other agencies to address a situation that continues to frustrate U.S. exporters.
"We realize there is no magic solution to the shipping difficulties confronting exporters at U.S. ports, but improving access to containers is certainly a step in the right direction. The Port of Oakland is an essential, strategic outlet for U.S. red meat exports, especially for chilled product destined for our key Asian markets, and our members look forward to utilizing the new container site," said USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom.
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