Incremental solutions to global logistics issues in Pacific Northwest

The global logistics problem has hit the Washington apple industry hard, and industry leaders have started working with the Seattle and Tacoma ports to find solutions.

Washington exports over 90% of all apple exports out of the U.S, and 30% of the total crop is exported in a typical season, according to Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission.

“Our overall exports were very disappointing. We were off 13% compared to last year,” Fryhover said. “Only 25% of the total crop will be exported. That’s the second lowest percentage in 20 years.”

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urged the world’s ocean carriers in mid-December to remove roadblocks to American exports. The two sent a letter stating that many of the same issues that existed last year are still negatively affecting exports. Containers are less available and container costs are still much higher than two years ago, they said. There is still congestion at ports in Southern California, the letter said, while the ports of Oakland and Portland have been passed over.

“Washington apple shippers are only getting two-thirds of the containers they’ve requested. Even if we can get a container, there’s no certainty it will get loaded,” Fryhover said.

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are managed by the Northwest Seaport Alliance, and Fryhover praised the alliance for listening to exporters’ concerns and working to find solutions.

“This crisis has created a greater awareness to the value of the supply chain. We’re so interdependent,” said John Wolf, CEO of the Northwest Seaport Alliance. “It’s truly a global economy. It is fragile. We need to continue to invest in infrastructure. The whole supply chain has deteriorated over the past decade.”

An industry task forced formed by the Northwest Seaport Alliance is made up of key stakeholders, including exporters, terminal operators, trucking, labor and others in order to solve issues together.

Wolf said there have been several positive, even if incremental, outcomes from the task force meetings. Below are the initiatives and progress the task force is working on.

First, empty containers are stored near the main dock, which keeps the docks clear. This has helped increase traffic at the gateway, since the dock has more space to move full containers, he said.

Second, the alliance is working with terminal operators to extend hours. Typically, hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The taskforce hopes to have one day a week with extended hours. This would provide more opportunities to send and receive containers, said xxx. With ships being off schedule, scheduling exports and vessels has been difficult, and the extra window of time will help, Wolf said.

Third, the taskforce is asking shipping companies to fix a delivery schedule for the following 72 hours to give exporters time to plan. Last year, exporters were given inconsistent or nonexistent schedules to work with, Wolf said.

Finally, imports are sitting at the docks too long. The alliance is working to help importers pick up containers sooner after offloading, and moving imports faster would allow more time for exporters to deliver, Wolf said, noting that importers now receive calls weekly to remove containers that have been sitting too long.

“These fixes are small but will make a significant difference for exporters in Washington and nearby states,” Wolf said.

Apples from Washington in the U.S. market | Historical volumes (in Kg)

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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